Practices

Comenius 

good Practices 

Examples 

→ Literacy 

→ Maths & Sciences and Technology 

→ Early Childhood Education and Care 

→ Early School Leaving 

→ Teaching Professions: Teachers, 

Teacher Educators, School Leaders 

Lifelong Learning 

Programme

Contents 

General Introduction ........................................................................... 5 

Chapter 1: Literacy .............................................................................. 7 

Reading, an active search for meaning ........................................................................... 8 

Imago 2010 ................................................................................................................ 9 

Using Web Comics in Education .................................................................................... 10 

The European Children’s Travelling Language Library ...................................................... 11 

Training teachers to make READing fun through digITal storytelling .................................. 12 

Teacher Learning for European Literacy Education (TeL4ELE) ........................................... 13 

Lifelong Readers: A European Reading Promotion Framework for Primary School Librarians, 

Educators and Administrators ....................................................................................... 14 

Discovering and supporting dyslexia in the early years .................................................... 15 

Reading is a Pleasure. Learn About Yourself Through Literature ........................................ 16 

G@t it! The European Feeling ....................................................................................... 17 

Increasing Literacy Skills ............................................................................................. 18 

Libraries without borders ............................................................................................. 19 

Methods to increase reading motivation ......................................................................... 20 

Creative Literacy through Innovation Project - CLIP ........................................................ 21 

Bibliooprevention ........................................................................................................ 22 

Europe: Reading is also the Future ................................................................................ 23 

Bookworms/Bookworms become actors! ........................................................................ 24 

Reporting without borders ............................................................................................ 25 

Bookraft .................................................................................................................... 26 

Let's introduce a book - The Little Prince ........................................................................ 27 

Young poets society .................................................................................................... 28 

Chapter 2: Maths, Science and Technology ........................................ 29 

EU-HOU: Hands-On Universe teacher training and support program .................................. 30 

Innovation in Mathematics Education on European Level (InnoMathEd) ............................. 31 

Biodiversity Education and Awareness to Grow a Living Environment (BEAGLE) .................. 32 

SETAC: Science Education as a Tool for Active Citizenship................................................ 33 

Science Pedagogy Innovation Centre for Europe ............................................................. 34 

UniSchooLabS: Remote Access for Schools to University Science Labs ............................... 35 

Stimulating Science and Technology Competences through Innovative Means for Teaching 

and Learning .............................................................................................................. 36 

Fly High - the principles of aviation as an opportunity to make physical theory accessible .... 37 

Connecting Europe through mathematics developing new teaching strategies –friends 4 

numbers .................................................................................................................... 38 

The schoolyard a place for outdoor pedagogy and creative playing .................................... 39 

PC Based Math Project for High School Students ............................................................. 40 

Explore Creativity and Innovation in Technology, Entrepreneurship and Design .................. 41 

School Math in learning English SMILE + Goal: Go Outside And Learn ............................... 42 

EU-EMSET Excellence in Maths and Natural Sciences ....................................................... 43 

Teacher trainers learning to show Maths ........................................................................ 44 

Teacher training in robotics brings an award to school ..................................................... 45 

Teaching Maths through the medium of English .............................................................. 46 

3e’s: e-counting; e-culture; e-communications ............................................................... 47 

Chapter 3: Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) ..................... 49 

Naturbild ................................................................................................................... 50 

Towards Opportunities for Disadvantaged and Diverse Learners on the Early-childhood 

Road ........................................................................................................................ 51 

EASE - Early Years Transition Programme .................................................................... 52 

From The Waste Basket ............................................................................................. 533 

3

Euro-citizens of the future ......................................................................................... 544 

Democracy at school, based on respect and mutual understanding ................................ 555 

IN.DEM Quality in preschool through inclusive and democratic education ......................... 566 

Pathway to success ................................................................................................... 577 

Early Years and Equality – Observing and living each other's practice in Early Years to 

inform quality development ........................................................................................ 588 

MusEUms ................................................................................................................... 59 

Act-in Art ................................................................................................................... 60 

Once upon a time...it is time for our story ...................................................................... 61 

Our Feathery Friends ................................................................................................... 62 

Job-Shadowing of a Czech pre-school teacher in Sweden ................................................. 63 

Job-Shadowing at a French primary school ..................................................................... 64 

Assistantship at a Portuguese pre-primary school ........................................................... 65 

Chapter 4: Early School Leaving (ESL) ............................................... 67 

Social Mindedness In Learning community SMILY ............................................................ 68 

Physical and sport activities in different environments ..................................................... 69 

Heidi's Education Adventure ......................................................................................... 70 

Teenagers in the 21st century: between difficulties and hopes .......................................... 71 

European school and professional orientation: a necessity for all....................................... 72 

Eco-friendly construction for the future .......................................................................... 73 

DROPS dropout prevention in schools ............................................................................ 74 

Comenius Stay on Track .............................................................................................. 75 

Improving engagement and learning capacity for disaffected pupils................................... 76 

Improve inclusion – Reduce abandon. Solutions M.I.D.A.S ............................................... 77 

RETAIN – a course dealing with student drop-out ............................................................ 78 

Viv(r)e mon collège ..................................................................................................... 79 

Chapter 5: The Teaching Professions: ................................................ 81 

PROject-Based SCHOOL Management ............................................................................ 82 

Contextual Learning in Management and Teaching in Europe (CLIMATE) ............................ 83 

European CLiL in Development: A Primary Phase Consortium ........................................... 84 

European Leaders' Training in Education (ELTE) .............................................................. 85 

Competences of Professional Educators in Europe ........................................................... 86 

Self – evaluation in schools for better education ............................................................. 87 

Working at European Talent ......................................................................................... 88 

Standeduqual: Standards of the quality in education ...................................................... 89 

Enhancing quality in education and preserving it ............................................................. 90 

Future European Teachers: Training Kit According To the Lisbon Strategy .......................... 91 

Improving engagement and learning capacity for disaffected pupils................................... 92 

Classroom Leadership in Real Life ................................................................................. 93 

Students' guidance in IT based open learning environments ............................................. 94 

ISATT - ICT in Schools, Administration and Teachers' Training .......................................... 95 

Developing "Start-up Support" for new teachers in their first year of practice ..................... 96 

Schools in Europe develop talent .................................................................................. 97 

Effective Classroom Learning through an awareness of "Basic Competences ....................... 98 

Digital media? ICT? – Know how! .................................................................................. 99 

Cross-cultural practice-oriented teacher education ........................................................ 100 

Unlimited Learning .................................................................................................... 101 

Global improvement in teaching and learning across curricular transversal subjects .......... 102 

Pasi Siltakorpi, teacher from Finnland, and his ten eTwinning projects ............................. 103 

Annex: COMENIUS ........................................................................... 105 

4

General Introduction 

I. Comenius: Europe in the classroom 

The Comenius Programme focuses on all levels of school education, from preschool 

to secondary. It is relevant for everyone involved in school education: 

mainly pupils and teachers but also local authorities, representatives of 

parents’ associations, non-governmental organizations, teacher education 

institutions and universities. 

Through the Comenius programme, the European Union invests around € 200 million 

each year in projects that promote school exchanges, school development, the 

education of school staff, school assistantships and more. 

Part of the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme, the Comenius actions aim to help 

young people and educational staff better understand the range of European cultures, 

languages and values. They also help young people acquire the basic life skills and 

competences necessary for personal development, future employment and active 

citizenship. This is done by funding transnational mobility, European partnerships and 

projects, education networks and school twinning. Larger scale projects and networks 

focussing on key EU priorities have pooled expertise from different countries, and 

developed innovative approaches. Please see Annex 1 for more details on the actions. 

With Comenius School Partnerships and eTwinning, 20,000 schools, 150,000 teachers 

and 400,000 pupils experience Europe in their everyday life at school each year. 

Comenius Regio Partnerships target the policy level of regional / local authorities. 

There are some 12,500 individual mobility grants for teacher education and pupil 

mobility awarded every year. 

The programme addresses issues strongly related to current discussions and 

developments in school policy, such as: motivation for learning and ‘learning-to-learn’ 

skills, key competences, digital educational content and inclusive education. 

II. School education: equipping a new generation 

Comenius Projects help participating countries to work together to develop 

their school education systems. 

Although in the EU each Member State is responsible for the organization and content 

of its education and training systems, there are advantages in working together on 

issues of shared concern. 

The programme contributes to the cooperation of the European Commission with 

national policy-makers to help them develop their school education policies and 

systems in priority areas. 

5

EU Education ministers have set themselves priority areas for joint policy work: 

To ensure that all pupils gain the competences they need in the rapidly 

changing knowledge society. This includes: increasing levels of literacy and 

numeracy and modernising curricula, learning materials and pupil assessment. 

To provide high-quality learning for every student. Improving equity in school 

systems involves making high quality pre-school education widely available, 

reducing early school leaving and improving support within mainstream 

schooling for students with special needs. 

To improve support for teachers, school leaders and teacher educators, 

through more effective recruitment and selection and better-quality 

professional education. 

This publication shows the close links between European school policy developments 

and the Comenius projects implemented in the field. In the following pages you will 

find an introduction to the topics and a selection of Comenius projects classified 

around five themes: 

Chapter 1: Literacy 

Chapter 2: Maths, Science and Technology 

Chapter 3: Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) 

Chapter 4: Early School Leaving (ESL) and 

Chapter 5: Teaching Professions: Teachers, Teacher Educator, School leaders 

The project descriptions contain basic information on each project and its participants, 

together with links to more information. 

To learn more: 

http://ec.europa.eu/education/comenius/participate_en.htm 

http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/comenius_en.htm 

6

Chapter 1: Literacy 

In the modern 21st-century society in which we live, literacy has become 

more essential than ever before. This raises the importance and urgency of 

ensuring that Europeans acquire effective reading and writing skills from an 

early age. Despite the EU’s high standards of education, some young people 

fall through the literacy net for a diversity of complex reasons. 

There is no single cause of poor literacy and, hence, no magic pill or cure for it. Given 

the complexity and interrelatedness of the challenges involved, effectively addressing 

illiteracy and poor literacy requires the commitment and active engagement of a wide 

range of actors. 

Member States have a shared interest in improving literacy standards and improving 

reading literacy. As this was one of the first objectives of the Commission's 'Education 

and Training' work programme, launched in 2002, it was re-confirmed as a priority for 

2010-2020. Member States have committed to reduce the ratio of low-achieving 15year-olds 

in reading literacy to 15% at most by 2020. 

In 2011 the European Commission established a High Level Group of Experts in the 

field of literacy (HLG). This group examined how to support literacy throughout 

lifelong learning, identified common success factors of literacy programmes and policy 

initiatives and came up with proposals for improving literacy. The HLG concluded its 

work and published its final report in September 2012. The report states that literacy 

is a fundamental requirement for citizens of all ages in modern Europe. Changes in 

the nature of work, the economy, and society more generally are making good 

literacy skills even more important. Achieving real improvement in literacy requires 

political ownership and cooperation across the policy spectrum and beyond. The 

group's report seeks to raise awareness of the literacy crisis affecting all Member 

States and provides recommendations on how to solve it. 

Schools, teachers and parents have a crucial role to play in nurturing the literacy of 

children and young people, while other key players, such as local authorities, training 

institutions, libraries play important supporting roles. Therefore, close coordination, 

co-operation and partnerships promoted by the Comenius programme are essential if 

initiatives to develop literacy skills in children and young people are to succeed. 

In the following pages, there are several good examples of Comenius projects that 

contribute to the improvement the literacy skills in young people; they are very varied 

in terms of focus and types of authorities but they all implement strategies and 

measures that lead to concrete results and impacts. Many of them address teacher's 

competencies and teaching strategies; other focus on the learning processes of 

children particularly those with low reading and writing skills. 

Most of the projects profit from the possibilities offered by ICT as a teaching and 

learning tool and as an effective way of motivating pupils and teachers as well as a 

means to sustain their outcomes and results. 

The project also highlights the relevance of the involvement of teacher training 

institutions, parents and other organizations as libraries involvement in the 

partnerships can contribute to a comprehensible approach to improve literacy. 


http://ec.europa.eu/education/literacy/index_en.htm 

7

Reading, an active search for meaning 

Comenius Multilateral Project 

Institutions involved: 

Thematic Field: Literacy 

Zespól szkól w Przeclawiu (Poland), Initiative et Formation Belgique (Belgium), 

Association Européenne des Enseignants – Enseignement Libre (Belgium), Lycée 

français Notre Dame de Sion (Turkey), Escola Secundaria C/3° Ceb de Afonso de 

Albuquerque (Portugal), Liceu Teoretic (Romania), Universitatea din Bucuresti 

(Romania), Centre national de formation de l'enseignement technique privé (France) 

Coordinating institution: 

INFOREF – initiatives pour une formation efficace (Belgium) 

Key word: Low achievers in reading, Literacy strategies, Teaching skills 

Description: 

The project Signes@Sens addresses the problem of weak reading 

comprehension. Many young and adults alike have low literacy skills; they can 

decipher words and short sentences but are unable to understand the meaning of an 

ordinary text on everyday issues. And for longer, more complex texts with implicit 

meanings and the use of symbols, the number of people with reading problems 

increases considerably, as shown by the PISA surveys. 

The Signes@Sens project has collected successful approaches to literacy and has 

developed an initial and in-service training module to help teachers improve their 

knowledge of what reading actually involves, to better identify the real obstacles to 

reading comprehension and to develop teaching practices adapted to overcome 

these hurdles. The methodology has been tested with different profiles of learners 

(age, socioeconomic background, and certain specific needs) and in different learning 

contexts (learning French as mother tongue or foreign language, in the countries of 

origin or in a foreign country, etc.).The project website gives access to all its results. 

The project contributes to the improvement of reading comprehension for all pupils, 

with a particular focus on the weaker pupils. These are the pupils who risk eventual 

exclusion from the education system, the labour market, and society in general. The 

key competence of "learning to learn" is an essential part of the project’s approach 

to reading literacy. It is about helping the learner (young or adult) to become aware of 

their mental processes and thus become master of his or her learning. 

Duration: 

2007-2009 

Webpage: 

http://www.signesetsens.eu 

8

Imago 2010 




Sofia university Hl. Kl. Ochridski (Bulgaria), University Mozarteum Salzburg (Austria), 

Panepistimio Thessalias (Greece), Justus-Liebig Universität Giessen (Germany) 


Amt für Lehrerbildung Hessen (Germany) 

Key words: Literacy curriculum, Teaching skills, Digitalisation and literacy 

Description: 

The main goal of this project was to develop and test a European-style curriculum 

for visual literacy for teachers and student teachers in pre-primary and primary 

schools. 

In the media age, children face reading literacy and visual literacy challenges even 

at pre-school and primary school age. The development of broad literacy skills, which 

go far beyond a purely text-based approach (e.g. critical and competent use of visual 

material, coding and decoding of pictures) would therefore appear necessary. 

However, school education has traditionally focussed primarily on the acquisition of 

written language. The need for an "aesthetic literacy" remains mostly ignored. 

The purpose of this project was therefore to develop, test and evaluate new 

materials and curricula, where the use of symbols, images and texts can be 

practiced and shared. The materials aim to develop elementary visual skills, evoke 

interest in visual forms of expression, promote individual articulacy and help to 

advance verbal and non-verbal linguistic skills in the form of best-practice examples. 

The early years are critical in the development of language and reading skills. Working 

with images is particularly appealing to children, promotes non-linear, lateral thinking 

and can motivate for learning. Including (visual) literacy is particularly valuable in 

language learning programmes for children from an immigration background. 

Elementary and primary school teachers are given the necessary professional skills 

and trained in visual skills and level-of-learning diagnosis in training sequences and 

further training modules. The international comparison in the project gives an insight 

into cultural differences and visual communication. The reference to three different 

scripts (Latin, Cyrillic and Greek alphabets) makes this a particularly exciting project. 

The results of the project have been published for practising teachers, 

supplemented by publications for children. Articles intended for specialists and 

teacher trainers have also been published. 

Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/projects/public_parts/documents/comenius/acc_mes_fin 

al_report_2007/com_mp_142381_imago2010.pdf 

9

Using Web Comics in Education 




Centre for the Advancement of Research and Development in Educational Technology 

(Cyprus), Kindersite Project (United Kingdom), University of Granada (Spain), 

University of Cyprus (Cyprus), Politecnico Di Milano (Italy) 


University of Piraeus Research Center (Greece) 

Key words: Teaching skills, Promotion of reading, Digital competence, Suppport for 

children with reading difficulties 

Description: 

Literacy has become a problem in many schools, and teachers are looking for new 

ways to teach that will be stimulating and fun while skill-building at the same time. 

Web comic books are an instructional medium that gives children the chance to use 

material from their own lives to conceive, write, and illustrate stories. They also offer 

a dynamic way to teach elements of fiction that are required in many schools. The 

Web Comics combines text and imagery as well as hypermedia and streaming 

elements. They can be interactive means for studying as well as for selfassessment. 

Children having read some pages of the web comic book could be asked 

to respond to an online assessment test. Furthermore, Web comics can offer 

scaffolding to difficult scientific disciplines and concepts and can be an effective 

instructional medium especially for reluctant readers and poor students. 

On that basis, the goal of the project was to help teachers and children effectively 

use an alternative instructional method for learning about literacy and scientific 

concepts by writing, designing, and publishing original web comic books. It places 

children in the role of creators, rather than merely receivers of information. Children 

write and draw about their personal experiences and interests, thereby being engaged 

in the learning process and motivated to succeed. The idea is not to drop a web comic 

book on a child’s desk and say: "read this". Rather, the project will train teachers to 

design learning scenarios where students will have the opportunity to draw upon 

stories which they then revise, publish and share with others. 

The project collected and published best practices in terms of educational comic 

books on various subjects such as literacy, language learning, science education, 

authoring tools as well as effective learning strategies and lesson plans. It also 

created training material for teachers and organised seminars for teachers; these 

teachers applied strategies and lesson plans to their schools in order to gather 

evidence of what works, why and under which conditions. 

Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

http://www.educomics.org/ 

10

The European Children’s Travelling Language Library 




Çukurova Ünivesitesi, Yabancı Diller Öğretimi ve Araştırma Me (Turkey), Jazyková 

škola s právem státní jazykové zkoušky PELIKÁN s.r.o (Czech Republic), Sastamalan 

Opisto (Finland), Associazione Culturale Benalua (Italy) Asociacion Cultural LibreMente 

(Spain) 


The Mosaic Art And Sound Ltd (United Kingdom) 

Key words: Reading skills, Libraries, Teaching skills, Promotion of reading 

Description: 

The EuroLib projects aims to answer 3 needs: to provide early European language 

experiences using a format that can resonate with the imagination of young students, 

to introduce books as the best source of autonomous lifelong learning, and directly 

attack the lowering levels of book readership and to promote the idea of Europe and 

its cultural diversity . 

In the project, travelling libraries of the most beautifully illustrated children's books 

in multiple European languages travel from school to school across Europe. Each 

school has the library for a period and has to carry out a number of pedagogic and 

collaborative activities before, during and after the visit of the Library. They place the 

results on the project website for use and viewing by other schools. 

Activities include inter-comprehension, comprehension, creative expression, criticism, 

reflection, task-based learning, collaboration and using languages within a social 

context. On the project website and travelling with the library itself are tools, teacher 

diaries and teacher guides. 

The impact on students includes exposure to the rich cultural heritage of Europe, 

motivation to learn languages, motivation to read books as a source of autonomous 

lifelong learning and reinforcement of emerging literacy. 

Duration: 

2009-2011 

Webpage: 

http://www.eulib.eu 

11


Training teachers to make READing fun through digITal storytelling 



University College Lillebælt (Denmark), Marsilio Editori (Italy), Scottish Book Trust 

(United Kingdom), Curtea Veche Publishing (Romania), Rüştü Akin Kiz Teknik Meslek 

Lisesi (Turkey), Liceul Teoretic “Ovidius” Constanţa (Romania) 


Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi-Telematica (Italy) 

Key words: Digitalisation and literacy, Teaching skills, Reading and writing skills, 

Promotion of reading 

Description: 

OCED data (2009) suggest that teachers often lack ICT skills, which prevents schools 

from fully exploiting technology to improve teaching and learning. To keep up the 

fast-moving technology, teachers need to be trained to integrate ICT in the classroom. 

In this context, the READ IT project aims to improve teacher skills through a 

methodology based on video production using digital storytelling, developing new 

teaching approaches through the use of ICT to support learning. According to the 

2009 Horizon Report, "There is a growing need for formal instruction in key new skills, 

including information literacy, visual literacy and technology literacy. Digital media 

literacy continues its rise in importance as a key skill in every discipline and 

profession". In response to this, the project aims at developing an innovative didactic 

methodology that integrates traditional teaching strategies with ICT tools to help 

teachers acquire new skills through video production using digital storytelling 

techniques. The techniques can be applied to different subjects but in this project 

production of book trailers was used as a method to promote literature appreciation. 

The main outcomes are an e-learning platform delivering the e-course for teachers, 

READ IT methodology for video production and digital storytelling and modular course, 

Face-to-face seminars in each partner country involving teachers and students and 

Book trailers. Through the training, teachers will learn and test a new educational 

approach, based on digital technology (i.e. book trailers) that can help raise the 

interest level and motivate students to read. Students will not only learn about 

storytelling and how books are constructed, but will also develop transversal skills 

(e.g. communicative, ICT, teambuilding) useful for future professional development. 

The innovative aspect of the READ IT didactic methodology is to combine the 

technology in terms of Digital Storytelling and book trailer production with writing 

techniques such as narrative and screenplay to reinforce teaching of reading and 

writing in an interactive, creative and authentic way. 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

http://www.readitproject.eu 

12

Teacher Learning for European Literacy Education (TeL4ELE) 




Strathclyde University (United Kingdom), National Centre for Reading (Denmark), 

University of Sydney (Australia), Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain), Institute of 

Theoretical and Computational Linguistics (Portugal) 


Stockholm Education Administration (Sweden) 

Key words: Teaching skills, Literacy curriculum, Literacy strategies 

Description: 

The purpose of the project is to explore literacy pedagogy based on a Functional 

Model of language as recommended by the Comenius project: European Core 

Curriculum for Mainstreamed Second Language - Teacher Education. All partners have 

an interest in working with genre pedagogy based on its success in Australia 

particularly with second language learners. Most partners have expertise in 

Systemic Functional Linguistics, which underpins this approach, and others have 

already trialled the pedagogy and experienced success, particularly with 

disadvantaged learners. 

The project partners have established clusters of interested educators who survey 

their national literacy environments in order to identify key areas for development. 

The clusters have produced "national literacy profiles" for each participating country. 

Knowledge about the Functional Model of language and its associated pedagogies is 

built up through the sharing of expertise among project partners and enhanced by 

input from the 3rd country partner, Australia. 

Based on the key literacy issues identified in each context, the partners make 

appropriate adaptations and develop materials for their socio-cultural education 

context. The project website provides e.g. lesson plans developed in the project. 

Cluster members trial their common teacher learning approach and train small 

groups of teachers to trial the culturally adapted pedagogy with students. Data on 

teacher implementation and student literacy achievement is collected in order to 

evaluate the effectiveness of the approach in each country. The project will thus 

produce a shared pedagogy and a new group of experts in the previously trialled 

functional linguistic approach to literacy. These experts will then be able to train future 

groups of teachers. 

Duration: 

2011-2013 

Webpage: 

http://tel4ele.eu/ 

13


Lifelong Readers: A European Reading Promotion Framework for 

Primary School Librarians, Educators and Administrators 



Κεντρο Ερευνων Πανεπιστημιο Πειραια (Greece), University Of Worcester (United 

Kingdom), Biblioteka Publiczna IM.W.J. Grabskiego W Dzielnicy Ursus Mst (Poland), 

County Meath Vocational Education Committee (Ireland), International Institute For 

Children´s Literature and Reading (Austria), Innovade Li Ltd (Cyprus) 


Center for the ADV. of RES. & DEV in EDU. TEC. LTD (Cyprus) 

Key words: Promotion of reading, Teaching skills 

Description: 

A lifelong learner is first and foremost a lifelong reader. Lifelong Readers (LiRe) aims 

to provide school librarians, teachers, and administrators with guidance and 

tools for encouraging children of ages 6-12 to develop lifelong reading habits. The 

low level of young Europeans' literacy skills has been repeatedly documented, and the 

EU emphasizes the need for lifelong learning. 

The Lifelong Readers (LiRe) project aims to convince stakeholders about the need to 

devote more time and effort to reading promotion and to place reading for pleasure 

at the centre of their policies, approaches and practices, to provide stakeholders with 

guidance, training, and an array of tools for reading promotion in the primary school 

and to initiate change by implementing reading promotion programmes in all 

participating countries. 

The LiRe project builds a reading promotion framework which features: summary 

descriptions of successful reading promotion programs, strategies and 

approaches, an extensive collection of reading promotion actions (grouped under 

categories such as Reading Promotion through Play / ICT / Volunteerism / Awards / 

the Arts) reading promotion evaluation tools and a catalogue of relevant sources 

and resources. 

The training modules will address the reading promotion training of teachers, school 

librarians, and administrators. The material will be piloted and implemented by all 

partners. 

Duration: 

2011-2013 

Webpage: 

http://www.lifelongreaders.org/ 

14

Discovering and supporting dyslexia in the early years 

Comenius Multilateral School Partnership 

Countries Involved: 

IT, SE, TR, CY, SI, RO, BG 

Key words: Support for children with reading difficulties, Teaching skills 

Description: 


The project promotes "schools that work for everyone" by addressing how teachers 

can support a dyslexic student as well as support the parents. The project has 

developed a teacher's guide focussing on best practices for teachers to help 

students before school age and in the early school years in order to get good language 

awareness and to prevent reading and writing difficulties. 

Dyslexia is a difficulty in the development of reading and writing skills. However, it 

is possible to identify those at risk of dyslexia, and who may have problems in 

developing the necessary skills that underpin the development of reading and writing 

even before they learn these skills. This can be achieved through long term 

observation in pre-school and careful monitoring and support. 

This project develops a system designed to prepare the dyslexic child for transition 

from preschool to primary school. The work builds on a comparison of alternative 

practices in partner countries, and development of a model of best practice that may 

be widely used. This includes an Individual Support Plan (ISP) that provides details of 

the history of the child and their needs, as well as information to the primary school. 

It includes a checklist for identification of difficulties and an associated manual as 

the basis of development of the ISP and support for these individuals when they enter 

school. This material is aimed at all teachers working in pre-primary and in primary 

schools, to provide a school-wide support, as well as at parents and others involved in 

helping the dyslexic child. 

A series of resources have been produced: historical background and current studies, 

how to observe the child during the transition from kindergarten to primary school 

through specific checklist, Teacher’s Guide, Parents’ guide, Individual Educational Plan. 

The partners have also written a book with the title "Bridges over learning 

difficulties", putting together the guidance material developed in the project. The 

book is designed for teachers, parents and others who want to acquire some new 

knowledge about discovering children at risk of developing dyslexia in the early years. 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

www.bold-dyslexia.com 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2010-1-IT2- 

COM06-14298 

15


Reading is a Pleasure. Learn About Yourself Through Literature 

Comenius Bilateral School Partnership 

Countries involved: 

EE, DE 

Key words: Promotion of reading, Reading and writing skills, Digital competence, Age 

and gender appropriate reading material 

Description: 

One of the serious problems today is that young people have lost interest in reading. 

Therefore, the main aims of the project are to encourage students to read good 

fiction, and to motivate them to get information not only from the internet but from 

paper books as well. 

The project aims to help students open and express themselves through drama and 

animation, and to give students a possibility to compare and contrast teenagers' lives 

in different countries and different time periods. The project also aims to promote 

Estonian and German literature in Europe and get to know the literature of the 

partner countries. Reading books about teenagers, students will be able to see how 

the matters of friendship and love, relationships with classmates, teachers, and 

parents etc., rights and duties, responsibilities... are solved. Discussing all these 

important things at the round table with foreign students will help them solve their 

own problems connected with the topics mentioned above. 

In each partner country, three books are chosen. The students read the books in their 

native language, and write summaries of these books in English to present them to 

their partners. Animated films based on the books are made by the students. 

Extracts from each book are acted out by the students (theatre methodology 

helping students to express themselves and their emotions through acting). Students 

visit theatre performances in both countries, visit museums (mostly literature 

museums) and have meetings with writers. Round tables about youth problems are 

held. As final products, students create 5 animated films and a video about the 

project activities. 

Duration: 

2011-2013 

Webpage: 

https://sites.google.com/site/parnuborken/home 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2011-1-EE1- 

COM07-02443 

16

G@t it! The European Feeling 



ES, NL, TR, IT, FR, HU, PL, DE 


Key words: Writing skills, Reading across the curriculum, Digital competences 

Description: 

The main aim of the project was to have students work cooperatively in the creation of 

articles regarding European teenagers’ interests and culture. The themes of the 

different issues were chosen by the students themselves through a questionnaire 

carried out in all the schools. 

The activities consisted of publishing a European magazine (paper and online), 

written by and for students, whose aims were related to the educational project of 

each school. It involved students of different levels of secondary education schools 

and the following subjects: Maths, Languages, Art, Sciences, Sports, Geography, 

History and Technology. The project took an interdisciplinary, inter-cultural, 

communicative, student-centered and multi-learning style approach, and 

supported the development of creative thinking skills to foster the academic, personal 

and social growth of the participants. 

The project established a Web 2.0 social network for teachers and for students to 

share ideas and project files, add comments, assign tasks and start discussions 

concerning the project. Four issues were published of "G@t it!" the European student 

magazine written with and for students. 

This project developed students' writing skills as well as cross-curricular and other 

transversal key competences. 

Awards: 

EST star Project 

Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

http://www.ejournal.fi/cfm33/index.php?action[]=IArticleShow::showArticle%28%27 

33173%27%29 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2008-1-ES1- 

COM06-00046 

17

Increasing Literacy Skills 

Comenius Regio Partnership 


Partner Regio 1 

Coordinator organisation: Ringsaker municipality 

Partner organisations: Nes primary school 

NO - Norway Fagerlund primary school 

Library Service 


Coordinator organisation: South Lanarkshire Council 

Partner organisations: Crawforddyke Primary/Nursery 

UK – United Kingdom Lanark Primary/Nursery 

Carluke High 

Coulter/Lamington Primaries 

Library Service 

Key words: Libraries, Literacy strategies 


Description: 

In many regions there is little awareness and cooperation between the main public 

libraries on the one hand and schools and school authorities on the other hand. This 

partnership addressed this issue by exchanging experiences and looking at ways to 

include the public libraries in literacy education and provide library staff with 

competences and motivation to turn the libraries into literacy education resource 

centres, cooperating actively with schools and the school authority to improve 

literacy education. In that sense, the partner regions worked to improve their 

approaches to and methodologies in literacy education. 

By exchanging experiences and results from the use of different literacy models and 

additional literacy aid tools such as ICT-programmes in the two partner regions, the 

partners gained better knowledge of models and tools, making the strategic decisions 

for school authorities easier and contributing to removing teachers' barriers against 

using new models and tools in literacy education. The project provided new insights 

into the effects of different pedagogical literacy and early intervention models 

and explored ways to involve public libraries more actively, efficiently and 

coherently as pedagogical tools in literacy education 

The project has had considerable impact at all levels. Teachers from both regions 

report that they have benefited from the exchange of experiences. Similarly, the 

libraries have exchanged ideas they want to implement in their practice, both within 

schools and in the public libraries. The project has brought the participating schools 

and the libraries within each region closer together, and other schools in both 

countries have also benefited from the work. As a result of this project, links to the 

public libraries were introduced in the partner regions' local strategies to improve 

literacy education in the early years of school. 

Awards 

National award in Scotland 

Duration: 

2009-2011 

Webpage: 

http://ils-norwayandscotland.wikispaces.com/ 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2009-1-NO1- 

COM13-00847 

18

Libraries without borders 





Coordinator organisation: Consejería de Educación y Cultura del Gobierno de 

Extremadura 

Partner organisations: CEIP José Mª de Calatrava 

ES -Spain IES Jálama; IES El Brocense; CEIP Manuel Pacheco; C.R.A 

Maestro Don Victoriano Mateos 

C.P.R Cáceres; C.P. R Badajoz 

Biblioteca Municipal Juan Pablo Forner 

Asociación Cultural Extremeño Alentejana 


Coordinator organisation: Direcção Regional de Educação do Alentejo 

Partner organisations: Agrupamiento de Escolas de Campomaior; Agrupamiento de 

PT - Portugal Escolas de Elvas nº 1; Agrupamiento de Escolas de Elvas nº 4 

Grupo Nabeiro Delta-Cafes 

Centro de formaçao de professores do Nordeste Alentejano 

Portalegre 

Biblioteca Pública de Évora. José Antonio Calixto 

Key words: Libraries, Promotion of reading 

Description: 

This project links libraries and schools in the two participating regions in order to 

foster reading and exchange academic experiences on the use of school libraries as 

an educational tool. 

The project identified good practices focussed on motivation, working methodology 

and strategies to integrate the different students' capabilities and working paces, 

the use of e-readers to boost and foster reading habits, the use of school libraries as 

the centres to manage and handle all the information that schools receive from 

different sources, etc. 

The project shows that collaboration and exchange of good practices between 

schools and educational institutions is possible. The interest in and impact of the 

project has been even larger than expected. The coordinators of the project have been 

required to detail the main project work lines at several national and regional 

conferences and meetings; furthermore the schools have incorporated the initiatives 

promoted through this association in their daily teaching practice, for example, the 

documentary projects or the use of blogs as information and promotion tools and 

educational resources. The partner administrations intend to maintain in the future 

the relationships regarding this and other similar projects. 

Award: 

EST star Project. 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

http://biblioregiosf.educarex.es/, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M669W4lsHo 


COM13-20646 

19

Methods to increase reading motivation 





Coordinator organisation: Staatliche Schulämter in der Stadt und im Landkreis Passau 

Partner organisations: 

DE - Germany 

Gemeinde-Bucherei Tiefenbach,Ausleihstelle Haselbach 

Grundschule Witzmannsberg 

Volksschule Salzweg 

Grundschule Haselbach 


Coordinator organisation: School-Adminstration Haapajärvi 

Partner organisations: Emolahden koulu (Primary school Emolahti)Pyhäjärvi 

FI - Finland Venetpalon koulu (Primary school Venetpalo)Kärsämäki 

Väliojan koulu (Primary school Välioja)Haapajärvi 

Oksavan koulu (Primary school Oksava)Haapajärvi 

Haapajärven kaupunginkirjasto, The Library in Haapajärvi 

Key words: Age appropriate teaching material, Libraries, Promotion of reading 

Description: 

The objectives of the project were to increase literacy, capabilities and skills in dealing 

with modern media and to work with students from the partner country. The project 

has developed new concepts and methods to teach children reading. It started with 

a comparison of methods for promoting reading in both regions: the Finnish visitors 

liked the cosy reading corners in the Bavarian elementary schools, while German 

teachers were convinced by the networking of Finnish schools and libraries. After the 

exchange of best practices, a new approach to reading was developed by the 

partners. 

At the heart of the project is a pool of German and Finnish children's books. The 

pupils discuss the books and exchange information about them. It's done through the 

bilingual literary game "Owlfinch", which has been developed specifically for the 

project. Through this game, the children communicate with their partners in the other 

country. The project managers have found that this social interaction and 

communication through books encourages children to read more books. 

The project has produced a wide collection of reading methods on a Wiki internetplatform. 

On this website, teachers can find a number of different methods for use in 

schools, as well as a new e-learning reading method which can be used by everybody. 

Teachers, principals, students and library staff alike - all have benefited from the 

partnership. The children have become more confident and interested, while the 

adults get an intense professional growth through the project. The involvement of 

professionals has had a positive effect, so that the children are now reading more and 

their love of books has grown. The pupils are better at discussing what they read, and 

take pleasure in sharing with their counterparts. 

Award: 


Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

http://comenius-regio-passau.mixxt.de/, http://www.pandio.eu/ 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2010-1-DE3- 

COM13-10415 

20

Creative Literacy through Innovation Project - CLIP 




Coordinator organisation: Peterborough City Council 

Partner organisations: Nene Valley Primary School 

UK- United Kingdom St Botolph’s Primary School 

Peterborough City Council Library 


Coordinator organisation: St Mary’s Vocational Educational Committee 

Partner organisations: St Mary's Primary School 

IE - Ireland Scoil Gharbháin 

Waterford County Council Library Service 


Key words: Cross-sector cooperation in literacy, Teaching skills, Literacy strategies, 

Promotion of reading 

Description: 

The objectives of the project were to raise the literacy achievements of primary aged 

children with a particular emphasis on using up-to-date technology to enhance and 

improve teaching and learning and to involve the wider community through bringing 

volunteers into the schools to enhance the literacy experience for all ages. 

This project has developed a comprehensive and easy to use resource for schools 

wanting to set up a "reading buddies" scheme. A "reading buddy" is a parent, an 

older student or a volunteer from a business or from the wider community who gives 

their time to help children develop their reading skills and takes an interest in the 

child and works with them for a minimum of one term so that they can develop a good 

relationship. Reading buddies are role models, their ultimate aim being to develop 

within the children a love of reading, increase the children’s confidence and selfesteem 

and leave the children with a real sense of achievement. Reading buddies 

provide schools with an extremely important resource – their time - and as a result 

they are very much appreciated and valued in the schools they attend. 

The "reading buddies" website is designed to be a "one stop shop" for all schools 

wishing to organise their own volunteer reading programme. The written materials 

include workshop notes with accompanying PowerPoint presentation, information for 

parents and how to involve secondary school pupils as reading volunteers. A 

promotional film features volunteer readers, teachers and children who have taken 

part in the project. The project produced a training pack that is easily adaptable for 

other schools and available to download free on-line. 

The reading buddy programme has had a positive impact on the literacy levels of the 

children, along with raising the general profile of reading among the school population 

and the wider community. It has also resulted in a far reaching involvement by the 

wider community in the daily school life. The effects of the project have far outreached 

the partners' expectations. Three years later it continues to grow, and is now 

self-sustaining as it has become an integral part of daily school life. 

Duration: 

2009-2011 

Webpage: 

http://reading-buddies.com/sites/reading-buddies/ 

21

Bibliooprevention 

Comenius Regio Partnership/eTwinning 




Coordinator organisation: Municipality Of Domžale 

Partner organisations: Primary School Rodica 

SL - Slovenia Youth Center Domžale 

Public Library Of Domžale 

Kindergarten Domžale 


Coordinator organisation: The City Of Lodz 

Partner organisations: Grammar School No. 16 

PL - Poland Regional Pedagogic Library In Lodz 

The Association For Mentally Handicapped Children And Young 

People "Closer To Yourselves" 

Key words: Reading skills, Literacy strategies, Support for children with reading 

difficulties, Age appropriate reading material, Teaching skills 

Description: 

The topic of this partnership is the use of literature and reading as a method for 

teaching violence prevention and problem-solving in schools. As an outcome, the 

project has created a model which could be used in other educational institutions. 

Through literature and reading, the method helps to develop an individual's selfconcept, 

relieves emotional or mental pressure, shows an individual that he or she is 

not the first or only person to encounter such a problem as well as that there is more 

than one solution to a problem. Using fictional narrative encourages pupils to 

discuss the problems more freely. Pupils work in small groups, while the teacher is the 

mentor and guide, encourages critical thinking, problem solving, and ensures every 

pupil feels accepted and respected. Furthermore, pupils learn to listen to each other. 

The methods developed were implemented in a practical context with pupils within an 

eTwinning partnership. Books were selected which were tailored to the age and 

receptive ability of the participants, i.e. their reading preferences and moods. The 

books chosen were novels which raise issues faced by teenagers. Bibliotherapeutic 

classes were conducted in both partner schools, during which discussions were held on 

previously prepared questions. Students discuss reading books, talk about their 

problems, possible ways of solving them with the help of books, share their 

experience, etc. These classes allowed the young people to think about themselves, 

enhance their self-esteem as well as to strengthen their motivation to learn, and 

finally to be able to activate it in the classroom. 

The project involved staff exchange with exchange of experience and good practice 

connected with the development of the method and its impact on students' behaviour. 

The project's public TwinSpace website contains further information and examples. 

Duration: 

2009-2011 

Webpage: 

http://www.etwinning.net/de/pub/profile.cfm?f=2&l=de&n=16906 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2009-1-SI1- 

COM13-00880 

22

Europe: Reading is also the Future 

eTwinning 



Colegio de Educación Infantil y Primaria Tremañes (Spain), Circolo Didattico Statale 

"G. Rodari" di Opera - Scuola dell'Infanzia "F.lli Cervi" (Italy) 

Key words: Promotion of reading, Reading and writing skills, digital competence 

Description: 

This is a project for the creation of a children's campaign to encourage reading in 

Europe and the development of a collaborative creative writing workshop. More 

specifically, the aims to exchange experiences, knowledge and educational resources 

related to children's literature, reading and writing initiation, school libraries and 

encouraging reading, to promote pupils' self-esteem through believing in the creative 

potential, to strengthen the role of literature, books and reading among the values 

and interests of the pupils, to provide new literary experiences for pupils to expand 

their creative skills and to strengthen positive attitudes toward books and reading. 

The project involves 4 to 5 year old children in a large number of activities such as 

the design of a campaign for making reading attractive, collaborative "writing", 

blogging, video conferencing between the schools in Italy and Spain etc. 

Throughout the project, groups of children correspond across classrooms with pupils of 

the same age. They share photos, presentations, videos or games. Using a video 

chat programme, the children have virtual meetings with each other. Together with 

their partners, the children develop an advertising campaign in favour of reading in 

Europe, making slogans, posters etc. 

The project activities also include video production and collaborative writing and 

illustration of a story. The story is published as a digital book on the 

Internet. Children become familiar with the use of 2.0 applications for collaborative 

online drawing. The blog "Parliamo di Infantile Literature" contains the project 

materials and information and experiences developed by the project. 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

http://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/profile.cfm?fuseaction=app.project&pid=37240 

http://twinblog.etwinning.net/27772/ 

http://infantiltremanes.wordpress.com 

23

Bookworms/Bookworms become actors! 

eTwinning 



Dunston Primary School (United Kingdom), Siegerland Grundschule (Germany) 

Key words: Promotion of reading, Age and gender appropriate reading material, 

Digital competence 

Description: 

The main aim of the "Bookworms" project is to increase children's motivation to 

read. Since reading is a key skill, it is important to motivate children to read and to 

exploit a diversity of media. 

This project allows students (10-12 years of age) to learn about the culture of their 

partners through multimedia communication dealing with the fairy tales, myths, 

legends and history of the partner countries. The students write about what they read 

(tales, legends, fables and stories), and present their favourite books through reading 

diaries, illustrations and presentation of the characters or heroes. With the help of the 

Internet, they research the authors, communicate (through e.g. blog and video 

conference) with their partners, and use the TwinSpace. 

The activities are further developed through the additional "Bookworms become 

actors" project, where pupils explore European children's literature even further, 

through reading and then acting out scenes from the stories. 

A final result the project hopes to achieve the improvement of pupils' native language 

as well as foreign language skills; intercultural exchanges and learning, development 

of pupils' multimedia competences and development of pupils' imagination through 

teamwork. 

Duration: 

2009-2012 

Webpage: 

http://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/connect/browse_people_schools_and_pro/profile.cf 

m?f=2&l=en&n=17839 

http://new-twinspace.etwinning.net/web/p17839/welcome 


m?f=2&l=en&n=46958 


24

Reporting without borders 

eTwinning 



Lycée Marguerite Yourcenar (France), Liceul Teoretic "Dr Mihai Ciuca" (Romania), 

Zespół Szkół nr 1 w Pszczynie (Poland) 

Key words: Digital competence, Reading and writing skills 

Description: 

In this project, pupils aged 15-19 cooperate to write an e-magazine: they select 

some topical issues they'd like to investigate, interview their European partners to 

know their views on this topic, then organize the information collected and write their 

articles. All the articles written by the pupils are published in an e-magazine. 

Among other things, the project aims to develop collaborative writing and proofreading 

skills and to develop critical thinking skills when selecting and organising 

relevant information; Furthermore it plans to write different types of articles 

(interview, report, survey, essay, opinion,…) on various topics, use ICT collaborative 

tools for publishing, editing, commenting, communicate efficiently with both 

classmates and partners abroad, develop inter-cultural skills, share ideas and 

concerns with European partners and bring to the surface the personal interests of the 

students. 

Duration: 

2010-2011 

Webpage: 


m?f=2&l=en&n=41236 

http://new-twinspace.etwinning.net/web/p41236 

http://issuu.com/ccoatanea/docs/e-magazine-rwb 

25

Bookraft 

eTwinning 



5th Gymnasio Serron (Greece), Gimnazjum nr 3 w Lublinie (Poland), Primary School 

Lakatameias 6 "Ag.Stylianou" (Cyprus), Zespół Szkół Zawodowych w Bogatyni 

(Poland), 1 Geniko Lykeio Elefsinas (Greece) 

Key words: Libraries, Promotion of reading, Digital competence 

Description: 

In this project, school librarians cooperate with teachers in Poland, Cyprus and 

Greece to enhance pupils' enjoyment of books through crafts and creative activities. 

The pupils' ages are 11-17. 

The project aims to encourage reading pleasure through a variety of creative 

activities and crafts, to teach library services and media education through 

eTwinning, to apply peer education on a teachers' level, as well as on a student 

level, to make the libraries more interesting and attractive and to make the pupils 

"library ambassadors". 

The expected result is a common blog with all the work and more interesting and 

attractive libraries with all the students crafts on books. 

Duration: 

2010-2011 

Webpage: 


m?f=2&l=en&n=28256 


http://etwinningbookraft.blogspot.be/ 

26

Let's introduce a book - The Little Prince 

eTwinning 



Scoala Gimnaziala Octavian Goga Cluj Napoca (Romania), 5ο ΔΗΜΟΤΙΚΟ ΣΧΟΛΕΙΟ 

ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥΠΟΛΗΣ (Greece), Direzione Didattica 3° Circolo (Italy) 

Key words: Promotion of reading, Digital competence, Reading and writing skills 

Description: 

Three primary school classes worked together on turning a chosen book - the Little 

Prince - into theatre performances, slide presentations and comic books published on 

the Internet. To make the experience more real, pupils produce a Little Prince visit to 

their own country, present it on stage and organise an exhibition about the project. 

The pupils were 10-12 old and the aims of the project were to motivate pupils to 

love reading, to help them improve their foreign language skills, make contact with 

peers from other countries and to improve their computer, theatre, drawing, writing 

and speaking skills. 

Pupils use various techniques to design/draw scenes from the book. Pupils' drawings 

are then scanned, exchanged between the classes and printed, and pupils organise an 

exhibition in their schools. The slide presentations made by pupils in all the classes 

are put together in order to create a joint presentation. Similarly, all the videos from 

the theatre performances are merged to create a joint movie. 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 


m?f=2&l=en&n=43099 


http://ourlittleprince.wikispaces.com/01.Home 

27

Young poets society 

eTwinning 



Sc. Gimn. Nr.29 Galati (Romania), Gimnazjum nr 16 im. Fryderyka Chopina w Lublinie 

(Poland), Γυμνάσιο Ζάρκου (Greece), Γυμνάσιο Οιχαλίας-Νεοχωρίου (Greece) 

Key words: Promotion of reading, Reading and writing skills, Digital competence 

Description: 

Poetry can motivate students and present a wide range of learning opportunities. 

Therefore, the project aimed to introduce students to the world of poetry and learn to 

read and different styles of poetry, to work collaboratively and communicate, share 

ideas and concerns, and discover ways in which pupils are connected, using poetry as 

a means for self-expression and self-realisation. Furthermore it aimed to motivate 

students to improve their use of the English language through reading and writing 

poetry and reinforce their grammar, vocabulary skills, creativity and 

development of the child’s imagination. 

Through the “Young Poets Society” project, students aged 12-15 from exchange 

poems by great poets of their countries, explore their characteristics and finally, 

cooperate to write their own poems using various structures and styles (haiku, 

cinquain, quatrain, sensory-emotion poems, couplets, diamonte poems, limericks, 

shape poems, tanka, ballad, and free verse poems). All these poems are illustrated 

with the students own drawings and, finally, included in an e-book under the title 

"Young Poets Society: Collection of Poems". Students also use their poems creatively 

to make their own video or audio files, dramatize them or make them into songs. All 

this material is hosted in a blog specially designed for this project. 

Duration: 

2010-2011 

Webpage: 


m?f=2&l=en&n=35771 


28

Chapter 2: Maths, Science and Technology 

A strong, competitive Europe needs a strong innovation basis. That means 

developing innovative skills from early years onwards - and inspiring the next 

generation to approach mathematics and science with curiosity, motivation 

and determination. 

Tackling low achievement in maths, science and reading is the main focus of 

cooperation among education policymakers at European level - one of the EU's 5 key 

targets for education and training. The aim is that by 2020, less than 15% of 15-yearolds 

should be low-achiever (under ISCED 2 level) in those basic skills, as measured 

by PISA tests. 

This is a considerable challenge, given recent low achievement figures for the EU as a 

whole: mathematics: 22.2% in 2009 – that figure must be reduced by almost a third 

to reach the 15% target and science: 17.7% in 2009. 

The current EU educational initiatives in this field are founded on the agenda for 

cooperation on improving basic skills in European schools, adopted by EU ministers in 

November 2010. 

The Thematic working group on mathematics, science and technology (MST) promotes 

peer learning between policymakers from participating EU countries to help them 

develop and implement policies to raise attainment levels and improve attitudes to 

MST. To date the Group includes members from 25 countries and representatives of 

Eurydice, OECD and ETUCE. 

Comenius Programme projects reflect these concerns and local regional authorities, 

schools, teacher, teacher training institutions and other actors, cooperate to improve 

the performance of school students in those subjects. Some projects explore how ICT 

can be used to address low achievement in maths and science, for example by 

diversifying teacher approaches, facilitating personalisation of teaching and learning, 

encouraging problem-based or hands-on approaches. Other projects undertake 

inquiry-based approaches, cross-curricular links, hands-on and co-operative learning 

to improve pupils' problem-solving skills and motivation. Furthermore, many projects 

address the need to provide teachers with adequate skills and resources to study and 

teach these subjects by developing courses for effective initial teaching training. 


http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/math_en.htm 

29

Thematic Field: Maths, Science and Technology 

EU-HOU: Hands-On Universe teacher training and support program 



Université Pierre et Marie Curie (France), Observatoire royal de Belgique - Planétarium 

de Bruxelles (Belgium), Lykeio Agiou Nikolaou (Cyprus), Förderverein Astropeiler 

Stockert e.V. (Germany), Instituto Diastimikon Efarmogon & Tilepiskopisis, Ethniko 

Asteroskopio Athinon (Greece), Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika W Toruniu - 

UMK (Poland) NUCLIO – Núcleo Interactivo de Astronomia (Portugal), Universitatea 

din Craiova (Romania) , Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain), Vetenskapens 

Hus (Sweden), University of Glamorgan (United Kingdom) 


Université Pierre et Marie Curie (France) 

Key words: Teacher education, Hands-on learning, Inquiry-based pedagogies 

Description: 

The project specialises in research in astronomy and aims to increase students' 

interest in science. The project provides resources for high school teachers and 

the organization of a network of pilot schools and resource persons. The educational 

material is posted on the Web site of the project. The project gives the opportunity to 

develop educational tools of high quality as part of a European partnership, and create 

situations at the interface between research and teaching. 

The exercises developed by EU-HOU are designed to promote active learning by 

giving students real astronomical data and the tools to analyse them simply and 

easily in their own classroom. The project work is based on actual astronomical 

observations, often acquired by the pupils themselves. It uses a network of European 

and international automatic telescopes operated via Internet as well as dedicated tools 

(Webcam systems, radio telescopes) developed for this project. These observations 

can be carried out in class, and their analysis with software designed for educational 

purposes. Educational resources have been built in close collaboration between 

researchers and teachers in partner countries. 

EU-HOU started in 2004 and is now in its third phase “2010-2012 EU-HOU - 

Connecting classrooms to the Milky Way”. In the “Connecting classrooms to the 

Milky Way” project, EU-HOU is developing the first European network of radio 

telescopes for education, enabling schools to explore the Milky Way through the 

Internet, as well as inquiry-based pedagogical resources to be used in 

classrooms. 

Duration: 

2010 – 2012 (third phase) 

Webpage: 

http://www.euhou.net/ 

30


Innovation in Mathematics Education on European Level (InnoMathEd) 



Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Mathematics and Informatics (Bulgaria), 

University of South Bohemia, Pedagogical Faculty (Czech Republic), Tyrolean 

Educational Service (TiBS), Austria, University of Cyprus, Department of Education 

(Cyprus,), University of Bayreuth, Chair of Mathematics and Mathematics Education 

(Germany), Projekt Bildung Institut (Germany), German School Board Bolzano, 

Department for Mathematics and Science Education in Primary and Secondary Schools 

Italy), University of Oslo, Teacher Training and School Development (Norway), 

University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education (UK). 


University of Augsburg (Germany) 

Key words: ICT, Teacher education 

Description: 

The project InnoMathEd aimed at substantial innovations in mathematics education on 

European level and developing pupils' key competences and their ability to use ICT 

for learning maths. As a result, the project InnoMathEd partners collected experiences 

of using computers in mathematics education, didactic concepts, pedagogical 

methodologies and innovative learning environments on European level. These results 

are published in a book together with a CD containing learning environments with 

software. 

The project also included the development of strategies and courses for effective 

initial and in-service teacher training. The long-term impact of InnoMathEd on the 

European educational system is ensured by: distributing the innovative didactic 

concepts through initial and in-service teacher education; disseminating bestpractice 

learning environments via web-based tools and print media; including 

policy-makers and education administration as well as the larger public in the 

dissemination processes; distributing the InnoMathEd results to the scientific 

community so that further research in the fields of didactics and pedagogy can 

benefit from the outcomes of the project. 

Duration: 

2008 – 2010 

Webpage: 

http://www.math.uni-augsburg.de/prof/dida/innomath/ 

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/projects/public_parts/documents/comenius/com_mp_14 

1831_innomathed.pdf 

31


Biodiversity Education and Awareness to Grow a Living Environment 

(BEAGLE) 



Helmholtz – Centre for Environmental Research (Germany), Hungarian Society of 

Environmental Education (Hungary), Miljolare.no, Norwegian Environmental Education 

Network (Norway), Slovak Environmental Agency (Slovakia), Field Studies Council 

(UK). 


University of Warsaw Centre for Educational Studies (Poland) 

Key words: Teaching materials, Sustainability, Awareness, Environmental education 

Description: 

BEAGLE is an online free biodiversity project open to all schools in Europe. The overall 

objective of the BEAGLE biodiversity project was to improve the quality of learning 

outside the classroom and enhance pupils’ motivation to learn. It encouraged the 

awareness and understanding of teachers and young people that European and 

global scale solutions are required for successful sustainable development. 

As a result, it enhanced teacher's knowledge and understanding of biodiversity 

and sustainable development through effective and relevant out of classroom 

learning experiences for young people. It motivated pupils to explore the curriculum in 

a non-classroom based context and encouraged them to make connections with other 

subject areas. A school in Denmark used this model to build the curriculum around 

an environmental theme. 

In practical terms the project involved online tree monitoring, supported by a 

comprehensive teaching guide. The monitoring was carried out via the website which 

would continue for 5 years. This method has been particularly effective in primary 

schools which are more used to a multidisciplinary approach. 

Duration: 

2008 – 2010 

Webpage: 

http://www.beagleproject.org/en/ 


2340_beagle.pdf 

32


SETAC: Science Education as a Tool for Active Citizenship 



Catholic High School Kempen (Belgium), National Museum of Playing Cards (Belgium), 

Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen, (Denmark), Deutsches 

Museum – Masterpieces of Science and Technology (Germany), Technical University of 

München (Germany), Hungarian Natural History Museum (Hungary), Technical 

Industrial State Institute "Marie Curie" (Italy) 


National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci (Italy) 

Key words: Teacher education, Integrated science education 

Description: 

The project aimed at the development of science teaching. The activities for 

teachers and students have improved knowledge about ‘how science works’ in order to 

take conscious and informed decisions about science and technology. The project 

focused on the building of skills for addressing science and technology in everyday 

life (and not only during school teaching sessions, or through textbooks) and for 

becoming active and informed citizens participating in issues of social interest and 

concern. 

The project developed a new pedagogy that draws on different fields (psychology, 

museum education, scientific research, civic responsibility) and methods (observation, 

inquiry, experimentation, children’s misconceptions, authentic questions, dialogue and 

debate) and considers museums and science centres as fundamental resources. The 

partners also devised a series of activities for schools focusing on health, energy 

and climate change and using inquiry, debate and direct participation in experiments. 

Other results include a European in-service training course for primary and 

secondary school teachers and a publication: "Quality Science Education: Where do we 

stand?" Guidelines for practice from a European experience in the form of 

recommendations for practitioners working in formal and informal science 

learning institutions. For students it provided different tests, games, questionnaires 

and simulations to be used in the classroom. 

Duration: 

2008 – 2010 

Webpage: 

http://www.museoscienza.org/setac/ 

http://acea.ec.europa.eu/llp/projects/public_parts/deocuments/comenius/acc_mes_fin 

al_report_2007/com_mp_142449_setac.pdf 

33

Science Pedagogy Innovation Centre for Europe 




Direcção Geral de Inovação e Desenvolvimento Curricular (Portugal), Dum 

Zahranicnich Sluzeb MSMT (Czech Republic). 


European Schoolnet (Belgium) 

Key words: Teacher education 

Description: 

The project was targeted at secondary school students and teachers and established a 

Science Pedagogy Innovation Centre for Europe (SPICE). The main objective was to 

collect, analyse, spread innovative pedagogical practice, especially those which 

enhance pupils' motivation for science studies. 

The SPICE project is a continuation of cooperation started under the project INSPIRES 

(Innovative Science Pedagogy in Research and Education). The SPICE project involves 

teachers and experts from 16 participating countries. In each country one maths 

and/or science teacher has been selected to be part of the SPICE teacher panel, 

which, along with a science expert panel, has helped the SPICE partners in defining 24 

good practices, so that they could be transposed and tried out in schools in other 

countries. Each selected good practice was tested in more than one country. 

The project is a successful example of how teachers from across Europe can work and 

learn from each other. The positive feedback received proves the need for 

collaborative projects that allow teachers to exchange good practices and are an 

important opportunity for professional development, encouraging teachers to reflect 

on their own practice. The importance of assessment methods in IBSME should be 

stressed and more collaborative efforts are needed. The partners and teachers that 

participated in the project will furthermore continue to disseminate the results of the 

project via conferences, presentations, teacher training, etc. 

Duration: 

2009 – 2011 

Webpage: 

http://spice.eun.org/web/spice 


2244_spice.pdf 

34


UniSchooLabS: remote access for schools to university science labs 



European Schoolnet (Belgium), MENON Network (Belgium), Ellinogermaniki Agogi 

(Greece), Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche (Italy). 


Scienter (Italy) 

Key words: Problem solving, Virtual learning environments, Teacher education 

Description: 

The UniSchooLabS aimed at improving quality in science education in Europe by 

promoting collaboration between universities and schools in the provision of 

remote access to science laboratories for primary and secondary schools through 

internet. The project produced a tool-kit which supports the teachers in selecting a 

remote or virtual lab and developing a lab activity based on an inquiry model 

template. 

The UniSchooLabs activities are composed of a number of pages and associated 

folders that facilitate the teacher in organizing experiments for the students using 

remote or virtual labs. The use of internet-based services and mobile 

technologies allows access to science experiments that would not otherwise be 

possible, because of the difficult or fragmented access to science laboratories in most 

schools, especially for those based in rural areas. 

The pedagogical approaches and scenarios developed within the project rely upon 

inquiry-based learning and problem-solving approaches, where learners learn by 

doing and through inquiry (science experiments) both in real and in virtual 

settings. These approaches foster creativity, analytical skills and motivate learners to 

learn through the pleasure of discovery. 

Duration: 

2010 – 2012 

Webpage: 

http://unischoolabs.eun.org/ 

35


Stimulating Science and Technology Competences through Innovative 

Means for Teaching and Learning 



Phaenovum Schülerforschungszentrum Lörrach-Dreiländereck e.V. (Germany), 

Steinbeis Innovation gGmbH (Germany), Colegiul National “Nicolae Titulescu” Craiova 

(Romania), Elhuyar Foundation (Spain), Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain), St. Mary’s 

University College, Queens University Belfast (UK). 


Elhuyar Foundation (Spain) 

Key words: Teacher education, Partnership with business 

Description: 

The main objective of this project is to foster the interest and take-up of science 

and technology among the European students from 12 to 18 years old. The project 

aims at increasing the motivation of students to study science and technology, and 

to contributing to the improvement and development of key competences. The project 

is working on creation of specific teacher training methods and programmes, 

addressed to current and future science and technology teachers. 

The STIMULA project encourages the active involvement of the world of work 

(universities, research and innovation centres and companies) in educational 

activities. The core of the project focuses on designing, implementing and validating 

new educational initiatives. The project is testing diverse curriculum extending 

initiatives, aimed at fostering students' interest in science and technology and their 

entrepreneurial spirit. The gap between schools and the world of work is bridged 

through different networking models established between them. 

Duration: 

2011 – 2013 

Webpage: 

http://stimula-project.eu/ 

36


Fly High - the principles of aviation as an opportunity to make physical 

theory accessible 



BG/BRG Seebacher (Austria), Steirische Volkswirtschaftliche Gesellschaft (Austria), 

Hochschule Bremen (Germany), Christelijk Lyceum Delft Secondary School 

(Netherlands), Inholland University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands), Universidad 

politecnica de Madrid (Spain). 


Fh Joanneum University of Applied Sciences (Austria) 

Key words: Teacher education, Problem solving, Cross-subject collaboration 

Description: 

The project was initiated in order to address the major challenges of modern European 

school systems, namely how to teach and learn abstract forms of natural sciences 

like mathematics and physics. The substance of the subjects envisaged create 

pedagogical challenges in a more and more concrete, practical and life oriented school 

environment. The project Fly High is using the theme of aviation to teach maths, 

physics and other subjects like geography, economics or languages 

The project is targeting secondary school students and teachers, and also vocational 

school students and trainers. FlyHigh is producing teaching materials which provide 

an appropriate and practically relevant methodology for teaching physics and 

mathematics, fostering a problem solving, more self-guided and practically relevant 

learning approach. The content of the materials is based on the secondary school 

curricula of the countries, taking part in the project, and is composed of separate 

modules to be adaptable to various educational systems in the EU. 

All results will be available in all partner languages as well as in an English master 

version for further use. Fly High also organises a student competition "Fly High 

Challenge", and a series of teacher training courses. 

Duration: 

2011 – 2013 

Webpage: 

http://flyhigh-321.eu/home 

37


Connecting Europe through mathematics developing new teaching 

strategies –friends 4 numbers 



PT, SE, ES, GR, IT, TR 

Key words: Teacher education, ICT, Diversifying teaching 

Description: 

The project was started in response to concerns across Europe regarding the falling 

interest among children in mathematics. It aimed at improving teacher 

competences and increasing their awareness of pupils’ needs and difficulties in 

learning maths. 

The partners analysed the teaching methods used by each of the participating schools 

and made teachers more aware of their pupils’ expectations. The project developed 

new teaching practices different learning materials, including a multilingual 

dictionary of mathematical terms, a selection of virtual learning resources and a 

selection of articles related to teaching maths and promoted pedagogical innovation 

among all the teachers. 

During the project, all the teaching staff was engaged in pedagogical innovation. 

The involvement in this project also fostered the use of the new technologies and of 

different European languages and thus increased the feeling of belonging to the 

European community. 

Award: 

EST star project 

Duration: 

2009 – 2011 

Webpage: 

http://xtec.cat/centres/a8005072/index.html 


COM06-09878 

38


The schoolyard a place for outdoor pedagogy and creative playing 



SE, FI, PL, RO, TR 

Key words: Contextualising learning, Diversifying teaching 

Description: 

For partner schools, mathematics seems to be a challenge and a phobia for many 

students and bookish mathematics can be boring and stifling when it's only taught in a 

classroom environment. As a consequence, many pupils find maths difficult and they 

have difficulties reaching the goals for the subject. 

Therefore, the aim of the project was to make learning maths more attractive for 

students. The project was successful in merging the learning of maths and different 

outdoor activities and setting up the outdoor integrated maths teaching 

methodology which helps the pupils to acquire the mathematical competences. 

The schools created a mathematic lab at every school with educational tools 

necessary for outdoor maths. In addition, the partners learned how to create a 

schoolyard which supports pedagogy with varied methods for all types of learning 

and social training. 

Duration: 

2009 – 2011 

Webpage: 

https://sites.google.com/site/outdoorpedagogy/ 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2009-1-SE1- 

COM06-01899 

39

PC Based Math Project for High School Students 



CZ, PT, PL, NO, LT, IS, DE, FI, DK, AT, SK 


Key words: ICT, Diversifying teaching, Teacher education, Problem solving 

Description: 

The main objective of this project was to improve the quality of mathematics 

education in secondary schools. This was achieved by targeted instructions with the 

help of modern software. 14 schools in 11 countries took part in the project. 

The students learned to work with new software and later they developed a project 

of applied mathematics. The students used their math and ICT knowledge to develop, 

calculate and document mathematical models. The project used e-learning 

software, such as M@th Desktop (MD) on the basis of Mathematical which is a 

Computer Algebra System. MD supports various teaching styles through its flexible 

handling. The math project was planned and carried out together with the partner 

countries. 

The teachers got a sound training for teaching math with the help of modern 

educational software and they came to understand the benefits of the "Blended 

Learning" concept. The outcome was the presentation of the different math projects 

by the students and a web page, from which all math projects documents are 

downloadable. 

Duration: 

2008 - 2010 

Webpage: 

http://www.lyska.net/MathProject/ 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2008-1-CZ1- 

COM06-00057 

40


Explore Creativity and Innovation in Technology, Entrepreneurship 

and Design 



BE, NO, DE, CZ, DK, IS 

Key words: Hands-on learning, Cross-subject collaboration, Experimental work 

Description: 

The project was created by secondary schools and offered possibilities for practical 

work in creating a technological assembly line so as to motivate students' to get 

involved in learning science and technology. 

The project work focussed on intercultural learning, the use of foreign languages, 

the use of modern communication media and modern technological techniques 

and self-contained planning, organisation of interdisciplinary work forms. The students 

and teachers took care of the design, the creation and the connection of several 

handling units. The challenge of the project was to let the units work separately as 

well as joined. 

To make the project work, the students and the teachers had to communicate on a 

very detailed scale. Each school was responsible for one part of the project consisting 

of mechanical modules, controlling units and a mainframe unit. The ability to work 

in a team with partners all over Europe was a perfect simulation of the realistic 

industry operation. The result of the project was creation of the multi-purpose 

programmable assembly-line. 

Award: 


Duration: 

2010 – 2012 

Webpage: 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2010-1-BE3- 

COM06-02376 

41


School Math in learning English SMILE + Goal: Go Outside And Learn 

Comenius Bilateral School Partnerships 


FR, PL 

Key words: Cross-subject collaboration, Teacher education, ICT, Problem solving 

Description: 

The project was created in response to the lack of students’ interest in learning 

(especially maths and science), and also sought to improvement of foreign language 

skills. The S.M.I.L.E. project aimed to reverse these negative trends and strengthen 

cooperation between students, teachers and local communities. It focused on 

learning languages and maths and concentrated on using new methods in teaching, 

which were are effective and attractive for students. 

The project is a good example how standard cooperation project evolves into an 

eTwinning project. In the bilateral partnership teachers and students experimented 

with many innovative lessons or activities using modern communication tools, 

working in a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) context. The results of 

the bilateral partnership were produced as tutorials or videos. 

In the eTwinning GOAL! project (Go Outside And Learn) teachers cooperated, planed 

and shared ideas of lessons outside the classroom, which were a part of ordinary 

school timetable. The topics of these lessons were related to curricula and integrated 

several subjects. Students cooperated and communicated using electronic devices and 

the Internet, and worked in groups. GOAL! is an example of Problem Based 

Learning project integrated in the school timetable and curriculum. 

Teachers analysed, compared and used different methods in teaching including 

computer programmes, on-line teaching and CLIL. 

Award: 


Duration: 

2009 – 2011 

Webpage: 

http://www.exemple-site.fr/smile/ 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2009-1-PL1- 

COM07-05196 

42


EU-EMSET Excellence in Maths and Natural Sciences 




Coordinator organisation: City of Västerås, Pedagogiska nämndernas stab/LEA 

Key words: Teacher education, Teaching materials 

Description: 


SE - Sweden 

Rönnbyskolan, Västerås 

St Ilians skola, Västerås 

Lindboskolan, Hallstahammar 

ABB (Automation and Power Technologies), Västerås 

Vafab Miljö AB 

Mälardalen University 

Mediecenter Mälardalen AB 

Asköviken Nature School 

Västmanlands Kommuner och Landsting 


Coordinator organisation: International Education Office, Gloucestershire County Council 

Partner organisations: Cirencester Deer Park School 

UK - United Kingdom Wyedean School and Sixth Form Centre 

University of Gloucestershire 

Gloucestershire First Economic Partnership 

Forest Education Business Partnership 

Real Ideas Organisation 

Before starting the project the local authorities identified a need to improve the 

quality of education in science, maths and technology, and designed a project which 

provided measures for stimulating teaching and learning through developing a 

joint framework for supporting students' involvement in learning. 

The objectives of the partnership were to improve the quality of education in maths 

and the natural sciences, and to increase the take-up of these subjects in upper 

secondary and higher education. The project resulted in university co-operation on 

initial teacher training, identifying and sharing materials and resources for 

teaching and learning (by using a web-based learning facility Natural Science and 

Technology for all and developing units of cross-curricular work in maths, science 

and technology for primary and secondary schools. The regions also learned from 

practices already in place and considered implementing similar measures at home. 

The project triggered further bilateral cooperation between the schools in Sweden 

and the UK on students' preferences for learning Maths and Science (2010 – 2012) 

and another Comenius partnership (2011 – 2013) on how young Europeans could 

build a sustainable future together, which involves schools from France, Hungary, 

Spain and Turkey. 

Award: 


Duration: 

2009-2011 

Webpage: 

http://eur-emset.wikispaces.com, 


COM13-01497 

43

Teacher trainers learning to show Maths 

Comenius In-Service Training 

Institution involved: 

Mary Immaculate College, Limerick (Ireland) 

Key words: Teacher education, Hands-on learning 

Description: 


The Mary Immaculate College in Limerick trains future teachers of primary school 

education. Niamh Armstrong is a teacher of IT and Mathematics in the College, and 

she learned new skills in the training course "Using Video to support lifelong 

learning". 

The course provided training in a combination of practical and theoretical information. 

The practical course involved writing a scenario for video, learning how to shoot 

video, use of light and sound, and use of cameras, sound recording equipment and 

editing software. 

Back at the College N. Armstrong developed a short CPD workshop for staff, and 

shared her knowledge with other colleagues. They began working on a project to 

develop video materials for mathematics and hope to develop this idea to provide 

resources for maths teachers. N. Armstrong reported that the course provided a 

valuable resource to include video in her teaching and learning portfolio and 

incorporate additional material into her future courses which she hopes will improve 

the performance of her students. 

Duration: 

The training took place in 2010 

44


Teacher training in robotics brings an award to school 



Kristiine Gümanasium, Tallinn (Estonia) 

Key words: Teacher education, Hands-on learning 

Description: 

Lauri Vilibert from Kristiine Gümanasium in Tallinn took part in the training course 

on robotics, and not only learned modern teaching methods and approaches, but 

also improved foreign language skills and established international contacts, which 

led to development of new international project. 

Back in his school the teacher used the acquired knowledge in his lessons and under 

his guidance students won an award in the robotics competition at national level. 

The training focused on one of the Estonian national priorities, namely Science and 

Technology. Theoretical part of the training course was aimed at the past, present and 

tomorrow's changes and challenges in the field of robotics. The training dealt with the 

impact of robotics on pupils of different age groups. Participants were learning by 

doing, they were constructing and programming robots themselves. The training gave 

a lot of new ideas on how to use Lego NXT Mindstorm sets in the classroom and how 

to integrate different subjects to help students to understand the subjects better. 

Duration: 


45

Teaching Maths through the medium of English 



J. Rainis Secondary School, Daugavpils (Latvia) 

Key words: Teacher education 

Description: 


Ludmila Voitova, a teacher of Mathematics, improved her skills in CLIL (Content and 

Language Integrated Learning) application after taking part in the course “Teaching 

Effectively through the Medium of English (CLIL), English language, education 

and culture for teachers of other subjects” in the United Kingdom. 

During the course she learned new CLIL approaches and obtained useful materials. 

The participants of the course had also observed 8 lessons of Mathematics in different 

schools in Wales. 

Back in Latvia, Ludmila Voitova has been approved as a trainer to deliver master 

classes on CLIL for other teachers and she already shared her experience with 

teachers in other schools by giving an open lesson of Mathematics in another region 

of Latvia. The new contacts allowed the teacher to continue international cooperation 

by developing European projects. 

Duration: 


46

3e’s: e-counting; e-culture; e-communications 

eTwinning 



Dun Guzepp Zerafa, Fgura Primary A school (Malta), Cauldeen Primary School (United 

Kingdom), Scuola dell'infanzia ex I.P.P.A.I. (Italy), Escuela Infantil Gloria Fuertes, 

Gijón (Spain) 

Key words: Curriculum 

Description: 

In this activity oriented project pre-school and primary children were encouraged 

to explore and discover mathematical concepts in an exciting and interesting way. 

They performed a series of hands-on mathematical activities using ICT based 

learning which were shared between all participants. Children were encouraged to 

invent and play games whilst they learn to follow rules. 

To realize this vision the project team work together to raise awareness of the 

importance of mathematics in early education, sharing sound pedagogical 

approaches to mathematical teaching and learning and developing essential 

resources to support high quality equitable mathematical experiences for all young 

children. 

In different activities involving new ICT tools children created mathematical digital 

puzzles and games. Different European cultures and languages are also introduced to 

the children. The results and descriptions of the mathematical activities and digital 

games and puzzles were published on the project’s website. Parents were introduced 

to the website to observe the development of the project and to use the educational 

games and puzzles with their children. 

Award: 

Spanish National eTwinning award in 2009. 

Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

http://3eees.wikispaces.com 

47

Chapter 3: Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) 

Early childhood Education and Care services should provide a safe 

environment for children, giving them the emotional, physical, social and 

educational support they need to start a successful and full-filling life. 

Recognizing that early childhood education and care can lay the foundations for 

educational success, personal development, social integration and later 

employability, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, there has been 

an increasing focus on this sector at the European level in recent years. 

Education and care systems for children below the compulsory school age vary in 

different countries; Member States are co-operating to develop ‘pre-primary’ or ‘preschool’ 

provision across the EU. Education ministers from across the EU set a target 

that by 2020 at least 95% of children between four years old and the age for 

starting compulsory primary education should participate in early childhood 

education. It is also increasingly recognized that the quality of such services is 

paramount. 

In February 2011, the Commission set out the key issues for future European cooperation 

in early childhood education and care with the aim to improve access and 

quality of services from birth to the start of compulsory schooling: "Early Childhood 

Education and Care - providing all our children with the best start for the world of 

tomorrow " In May 2011 EU Education ministers endorsed these plans and launched 

a process of policy co-operation at European level in the : Council conclusions on 

early childhood education and care. The main aim of the policy cooperation between 

Member States' representatives is to develop a proposal for a European Quality 

Framework in ECEC based on evidence from research, policy and practice. 

At EU programme level, many of the Comenius projects presented here have 

contributed in different ways, to improving ECEC systems. Some of them have 

promoted the reinforcement of the staff competences through training and providing 

tools and strategies to improve their practices. 

Other projects have focused on the quality of ECEC by revising the pedagogical 

content, the curriculum, developing methodologies based on children's diverse needs 

and competences and involving and supporting parents. It is important to stress that 

many of the projects have been designed and implemented by taking into account 

the diversity of the different ECEC institutions and the special needs of some 

disadvantaged groups. 

A key element of success in these projects has been the involvement of staff training 

institutions as well as of the relevant authorities responsible for education in the 

area. 

The gathered examples of good projects show how supporting cooperation and 

exchange programs have had direct impact on improving ECEC and have delivered 

concrete results such as changes in the staff training curricula and training courses, 

assessment tools, manuals, good practices, etc. 


http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/childhood_en.htm 

49

Naturbild 



Thematic Field: ECEC 

Pädagogische Hochschule Oberösterreich (Austria), Sofiiski Universitet "Sveti Kliment 

Ohridski" (Bulgaria), Kecskeméti Fõiskola Tanitokepzo Foiskolai Kar (Hungary), 

Universitatea Babes-Bolyai, Facultatea de Psihologie si Stiinte ale Educatiei (Romania), 

Selye Janos University (Slovakia), Comenius University in Bratislava (Slovakia) 


Pädagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg (Germany) 

Key words: Staff competences, Curriculum, Transition to school 

Description: 

The partners focused on the importance of "Nature and Technology" in the early 

formation processes of children as early education is key towards improvements 

in the field of science and technical education, as pillar of the knowledge society. 

They identified deficiencies at different levels; on the conceptual level of content 

(training plans, curricula), at teacher level as they are not sufficiently trained in the 

field and on the institutional level where the cooperation between kindergarten and 

Primary school is not adequate developed. 

The project approach takes as starting point children’s creative and constructional 

skills and encourages them to look at natural phenomena close to children lives from 

numerous perspectives. It involves playing and experimentation, building and 

handicrafts, exploration of the world, improvised movement and the aesthetic 

expression of movement, social co-construction, the explicit interpretation of 

phenomena, the inclusion of imagination, literature and poetry as well as autonomous 

exploration through learner-centred projects. 

The partners developed efficient teaching strategies and scenarios for challenging 

children in transition from pre-school to school education to discover and 

understand natural phenomena and solve technical problems. It focused on the 

improving of skills of pre-primary teachers to deliver scientific and technical 

education. Some of the scenarios are provided in the video format accompanied 

with detailed comments for teachers. 

Duration: 

2008–2010 

Webpage: 

www.projekt-naturbild.eu 

50


Towards Opportunities for Disadvantaged and Diverse Learners on the 

Early-childhood Road 



University College South Denmark (Denmark), West University of Timisoara 

(Romania), Artevelde University College (Belgium), Kingston University (United 

Kingdom), University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd (Germany), Instituto Politécnico 

de Santarém (Portugal), Universitat Ramon Lull (Spain), Haute Ecole Libre Mosane 

(Belgium) 


Universitetet i Stavanger (Norway) 

Key words: Quality, Diversity, Parental involvement, Staff competences 

Description: 

The project shows the educational potential of high quality education and care in 

centre-based settings for toddlers, in particular for those from low education/low 

income/migrant families. 

The project focuses on the development of provisions for toddlers and investigates 

different approaches to improve curriculum and teaching strategies and to 

strengthen parental engagement. The project is based on the principle that the 

most enduring cognitive results are achieved when both cognitive and socio-emotional 

outcomes are pursued simultaneously. The involved teacher training institutions 

cooperate with student teachers, teachers working with toddlers and policy makers. 

The project collects knowledge and experience on how to enhance equity in early 

education (0 - 3 years) and implements this in teacher training programmes of the 

involved institutions. 

The knowledge and examples of good practice gathered within the project will be 

developed into a European in-service course and a course module for student 

teachers. The course material shall invite practitioners and students to reflect on the 

learning conditions for disadvantaged children in early childhood settings and 

provide them with tools for their better integration in schools. 

Duration: 

2010-2013 

Webpage: 

http://www.toddlerineurope.eu 

51

EASE - Early Years Transition Programme 




School of Education, Aarhus University (Denmark), University of Western Macedonia 

School of Education/Department of Early Childhood Education (Greece), Apor Vilmos 

Catholic College (Hungary), Pädagogische Hochschule Burgenland (Austria), Wroclaw 

University, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Institute of German Philology (Poland), 

University of Gothenburg, Department of Education (Sweden), School of Education at 

University of Iceland (Iceland), Erzbischöfliches Berufskolleg Köln, St. Ursula 

Berufskolleg Düsseldorf, Georg-Kerschensteiner Berufskolleg Troisdorf, Berufskolleg 

Ehrenfeld Köln, Berufskolleg des Kreises Heinsberg, (Germany) 


EU-Geschäftsstelle Wirtschaft und Berufsbildung, Bezirksregierung Köln (Germany) 

Key words: Transition to school, Curriculum, Evaluation 

Description: 

The objectives of EASE were to maximize the exchange and cooperation between the 

Early Childhood sector and primary schools and thus facilitate the transition of 

children from one stage to the next one. The project wanted to promote the 

involvement and exchange of views between parents and professionals in both 

sectors and to develop connecting curricula in early literacy and language practice 

within a play-oriented and participatory approach. 

The project used a learning stories approach to evaluate children's progress in 

language and early literacy. The children were involved in progressively more 

complex patterns of reciprocal activity and challenged by gradual shifts in the balance 

of power from the teacher to the learner. These shifts reflect children's growing ability 

to set their own goals, assess their own achievements, and take on responsibility for 

their learning. Children's development was stimulated by learning experiences and 

guided participation and both adults and peers nurtured children's learning and 

development. 

Among the concrete outcomes and results the project developed curricula for 

teacher training in early literacy and language practice and an early childhood 

framework curricula which emphasized continuity in children's education. The 

partners developed methods to assess children's literacy learning which put an 

emphasis on children's empowerment and capacity to reflect on their own learning 

processes. Furthermore, a European handbook of transitions was developed that 

summarized the main findings of the project across the participating countries. 

Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

www.ease-eu.com 

52

From The Waste Basket 



BG, EE, FR, IT, SI, UK 


Description: 


The purpose of the partnership was to raise the awareness of the recycling issue at 

kindergarten level, with the help of teachers, parents and school staff. The 

children learned about the waste that is thrown away, what happens to it, and how it 

can harm the environment. 

Thought the different activities, children learned about the partner countries, 

exchanged items they had made from recycled materials (toys, artwork, postcards, 

etc.) and enriched their vocabulary and understanding about the recycling issue. 

Two booklets were produced for partners on paper and plastic recycling with 

activities and products made of paper by children involved in English. The exhibitions 

of the children's work were displayed publicly in each school for all children and 

teacher's to see; furthermore, questionnaires were distributed to raise the awareness 

also of parents about recycling. 

A brochure containing information about the partners, the project objectives, activity 

calendar, instructions for making items with recycled materials, etc. was distributed to 

all the families involved in the project and also to officials. At the end of the project 

the outcomes were assembled and published on the project website. 

Duration: 

2009-2011 

Webpage: 

http://www.from-the-waste-basket.eu/ 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2009-1-FR1- 

COM06-07173 

53

Euro-citizens of the future 


Countries involved 

FR, IC, IT, PL, SE, UK 


Description 


The partner nursery schools from 6 countries with different climates, landscapes, 

latitudes and natural heritage, aimed to encourage pupils to become euro-citizens 

responsible for their environment through the theme of sustainable development. 

Throughout the project pupils created their own “eco-code” step-by-step that depict 

what is suitable and unsuitable for our planet hoping that this citizenship education 

will change their habits for the benefit of themselves as citizens of the future. The idea 

was to let children mind about that and together find and exchange ideas to spread 

their ecological message. ICT tools and video and photos featured greatly in all 

project activities. 

The project also produced a book on the subject of the respect of our 

environment, consisting of a chapter by country invented and illustrated by children. 

The travelling mascots were the heroes; their adventures reflect the discoveries made 

by children during the project. Each chapter was written in both language of its 

author's country and reader's native language, to enable as many parents, children 

and potential readers the opportunity to understand the stories. The book was 

published on paper and digital version. 

Award: 


Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/search.php?&P0=A.COM06&&P1=E.FR&&P2= 

E.IS&&P3=E.IT&&P4=E.PL&&P5=E.GB 

54


Democracy at school, based on respect and mutual understanding 



IC, IT, NO, ES, TR 

Key words: Voice of the child 

Description: 

The project was based on the desire wish to make children's thoughts, opinions 

and imagination visible for teachers and peers. Following the assumption that 

everyone has the right to be seen and heard in a democratic society, children should 

learn about concepts such as freedom, rights and obligations. 

All activities aimed at creating in the pupils with strong moral personalities, 

autonomy and critical skills. Throughout the diverse activities, children had the 

opportunity to express their opinions (no opinion is stupid or inferior), to listen to, to 

talk with, to meet argument with argument, to explain decisions with concrete 

reasons. 

Among the products there were project newsletters, a publication about Democracy 

made with the direct input of the pupils and a Tool Booklet for Democracy and 

participation in Kindergarten and at School which contains observation forms, 

interview guide, questionnaire for teachers to use in the future (directly down able). 

Throughout and after the end of the project the participating schools experienced that 

the project has influenced their lives and changed attitudes within the staff. All 

involved partners agreed that the project offered a unique opportunity to understand 

other cultures, exchange experiences and learn to work together across borders and 

language barriers. 

Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

http://sw.lme.lausn.is/doc/908?download=false 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2008-1-PT1- 

COM06-00046 

55


IN.DEM Quality in preschool through inclusive and democratic 

education 



IT, NL, SE 

Key words: Quality, Staff competences, Diversity 

Description: 

This project focuses on the experiences in the field of age 0-6 education developed in 

the pre-schools participating in this project. Its main goal was to share and 

disseminate a discussion about quality in education. The basic principle was the idea 

that children have strong abilities ever since birth. They master different languages: 

verbal and non-verbal, visual, body and symbols. This project sought to explore 

how teachers can create opportunities to offer children the chance to develop such 

languages and ways to express themselves. This idea, common and known on a 

theoretic level, but not on a practical one, could lead to create new high quality 

opportunities for children. Therefore, the project intended to offer and provide 

teachers with proper tools and specific skills throughout education. 

The different project activities such as study-visits highly fostered the desire to 

discover other cultures and social, political, educational histories; it also gave the 

opportunity to enforce the idea that the experience about children demonstrates how 

education can be considered an essential resource for the countries and for the 

development of a quality daily way of living. 

The Indem Project Blog showcases the most significant events that have 

characterized the project (as conferences, workshops, study visits). The project also 

created a "Best Practices Book". 

Award: 


Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

http://www.progettinfanzia.eu/it/?page_id=50 


COM06-00216 

56

Pathway to success 



Key words: Staff competences 

Description: 



Coordinator organisation: Municipality of Šumperk 

Partner organisations: Happy Kindegarten, pre-primary school in Šumperk 

CZ -Czech Republic Pedagogical-psychological counselling of Olomouc 

region 


Coordinator organisation: Municipality of Prievidza 

Partner organisations: Pre-primary school in Prievidza 

SK -Slovakia Educational and psychological counselling and 

prevention centre, Prievidza 

This was a pioneering project on how to develop teacher mentoring skills by using 

ICT. Its main objective was getting a better understanding of how learning with ICT 

tools takes place in open learning environments and how it can be enhanced. The 

specific scope of the project was the role of teachers and tutors in such blended 

learning arrangements and the question to which extent self-organised learning is 

possible and how guidance and feed-back to the pupils can be organised in the 

best way in order to allow well customized learning for each pupil. The project 

therefore did not only have a didactic side but also touched aspects of staff 

resource economy and school organisation. 

The project activities were carried in four stages: First, to analyse the practice and 

conditions of ICT use in self-organized learning and the specific requirements of 

support for learners offered by the school; Secondly a guidance and feed-back 

model, the “Learn Desk” concept developed to improve students' results in 

schoolboy increasing access to the teachers during the day as a help-desk and be 

complementary to the availability of regular teachers for student support. Next, the 

“Learn Desks” were tested and finally the results were disseminated in work-shops 

addressed to the regional and national open learning community in both countries. 

Project results are available for download on the project website and the teachers in 

Varberg produced a short film describing how the participating schools worked with it. 

Award: 

National Comenius award in the Czech Republic in 2012 and EST star project. 

Duration: 

2009-2011 

Webpage: 

http://www.sumperk.cz/cs/mesto-sumperk/projekty-eu/ukoncene-projekty/cestickak-uspechu.html; 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2009-1-CZ1- 

COM13-01936 

57


Early Years and Equality – Observing and living each other's practice 

in Early Years to inform quality development 




Coordinator organisation: Staffordshire County Council 

Partner organisations: Stafford Children's Centre 

UK – United Kingdom Centre for Research in Early Childhood 


Coordinator organisation: City of Antwerp 

Partner organisations: Stedelijk kinderdagverblijf (Children's Day Care Centre De 

BE - Belgium Duveltjes) 

Kinderdagverblijf Kadee (Childre's Day Care Centre Kadee) 

KDV 't Folieke 

Basisschool Unescoschool 

GO! Onderwijs van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap 

Key words: Quality, Diversity 

Description: 

The overall purpose of the project was to improve quality in early year's provisions 

and settings and aimed to examine what quality overall means and in particular in 

relation to equality and diversity within provisions, early language acquisition, 

transition points in a child's learning and development. 

The exchanges of staff (job shadowing weeks in both regions) offered early years 

practitioners in Flanders, Belgium and in England a unique opportunity to have firsthand 

experiences of early years practice in the other country, and to explore with 

colleagues in the other country aspects of practice and the reasoning behind it. 

Proactive and mutual reflection help practitioners and their counterparts in the 

other country, as well as their colleagues ‘at home’ to attain maximum benefit from 

collaborative reflection. The learning and the improvements in practice thus acquired 

benefit all the children of the schools involved. 

At the start of the project a toolkit was produced to give information to practitioners 

about observation and reflection and it provided a coherent framework and common 

language to collect practitioners’ ideas, thoughts and questions. The revised toolkit is 

and free for use by others although practitioners should be given instructions and 

supported by their managers before, during and after the whole process of using the 

toolkit. 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

http://eyeproject.eu 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2010-1-GB1- 

COM13-06198 

58

MusEUms 

eTwinning 



Przedszkole nr 48 z Oddziałami, Zabrze (Poland), Southwater Infant School (United 

Kingdom) 

Key words: Curriculum, Diversity 

Description: 

The aim of the project was to help kindergarten pupils (age 4-7) to learn about the 

history of the home town and another town in Europe and to recognise and 

appreciate the similarities and differences between them. 

During the project, each school selected an artefact (for example a brick from the 

second world war, a plush dinosaur and a coal stone) that was linked to the history of 

their town and sent it to the other kindergarten. Through various activities involving 

ICT tools, the children learned more about each artefact, which helped them to have 

an idea of each town and what is was like in the past. Each of the artefacts and other 

related information were displayed throughout the year in a museum in each 

kindergarten to share with the wider community. To assist the process, the pupils also 

visited a selection of local museums over the year and shared these experiences 

with their partner schools. 

As outcome, children gained a better understanding of their own history, and how it 

links to the history of other places in Europe. Furthermore, by seeing the similarities 

between themselves and their new friends in Europe, they were able to develop their 

sense of being Global Citizens. 

Award: 

The project received the UK National eTwinning Award 2011, the Polish National 

eTwinning Award in 2012 and the European Quality Label in 2011. 

Duration: 

2010-2011 

Webpage: 

www.emuseums.wordpress.com 

59

Act-in Art 

eTwinning 



Kindergarten of Launegg (Austria), Kindergarten of Jules Ferry (France), Kindergarten 

of Kaparelli (Greece), Kindergarten of Mežmaliņa (Latvia), Kindergarten of Porto de 

Mós (Portugal). 

Key words: Diversity, Curriculum 

Description: 

The goals of the project were to develop an appreciation for the art of other countries 

and cultures, and to acquire confidence to express own thoughts and feelings 

through art. Throughout the different interactive activities children developed artistic 

skills and the talent of each pupil through creative ways of activities. 

Pupils from each partner school started an artwork on a canvas based on the style of a 

pre-chosen artist, and they send it to the next school by post. Every 2 months each 

partner joined the ‘traveling artwork’ which arrived at the school and together with 

the pupils they did research to identify the style of the specific artist they had to work 

on. This way, all partners build together 5 visual biographies. Each partner uploaded 

the pupils' work of each phase on a Glogster as well as produced a short video that 

shows how they worked, which is available on the Wikispace. 

The outcomes of the project were a better understanding and appreciation of art as an 

expression of cultural diversity, to realize that art communicates ideas and feelings in 

a visual format. In addition, children explored a variety of art media, got familiar 

using art vocabulary and created unique art works. 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

http://act-in-art.wikispaces.com/Project 

60

Once upon a time...it is time for our story 

eTwinning 



Agar Children’s Centre, London (United Kingdom), Przedszkole Mieiskie nr 13, Olsztyn 

(Poland) 

Key words: Curriculum, Staff competences, parental involvement 

Description: 

The project consisted of six story times (three of them were classic and well known, 

like Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella) and was aimed at children within the Early 

Years Foundation Stage (3 to 5 years), inclusive of children with Speech & 

Learning difficulties and children with English as an Additional Language. The 

objectives of the project were to exchange story-telling methods between 

teachers, to become familiar with different methods and techniques used to tell 

stories, to develop language learning with the children and to develop teachers' IT 

skills. During the sessions teachers incorporated new and different techniques to 

make story time as captivating as possible for the children. 

The project attempted to incorporate all areas of development such as 

communication, language, creativity, numeracy, physical activities and social 

skills. The children developed a real interest and enjoyment in the books and learned 

to share and interact with each other through participation in the various activities 

relating to the stories. Learning was also evident on a deeper level, whereby children 

collaborated and engaged in a range of activities, having been given different roles 

within a group setting, using various ICT tools and fun activities, which appealed to 

different senses. To further support this, the project gave way to different learning 

styles, within different physical contexts, involving peers, teachers and parents. 

This ultimately gave children the opportunity to engage with Polish and English culture 

on many different levels. 

The most outstanding result was the progress the children made in their 

communication development. From analysis at the end of project almost all of the 

children (including children with speech and learning difficulties and English as an 

additional language) were achieving above expectations in this area. 

Award: 

The project received the UK National eTwinning award for Best newcomer in 2012. 

Duration: 

3 months in 2011 

Webpage: 

http://new-twinspace.etwinning.net/web/p51376 

61

Our Feathery Friends 

eTwinning 



Leikskólinn Bakki, Reykjavík (Iceland), Flataskóli, Garðabær (Iceland), Ceip La 

Angostura school, Canary Islands (Spain), St Albans Road Infant school, Dartford 

(United Kingdom), Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School, Dartford (United Kingdom) 


Description: 

Based on the assumption that young children are curious about the world surrounding 

them and the young age is the best to reinforce lifelong learning skills about the 

natural environment, this cross-curricular project helped pupils to learn about their 

local environment and to understand that there are no boundaries for nature. Pupils 

observed local birds and compared them with partner countries. 

In different activities they produced bird feeders, visited local nature reserves, learned 

songs in native and partner languages and made observational drawings of birds and 

exchanged them with partners. Pupils also practiced their reading skills using a 

special “Bird” library and taking challenges to read more books than their partners. 

Flashmeetings helped to compare the reading challenge results and set new 

challenges. Through traditional stories and singing songs pupils learned about each 

other's cultures. 

Pupils benefited from exploration during the visits to nature reserves leading to 

presentation of their own findings using ICT tools. The carried out activities 

addressed a wide range of topics and were in line with the preschool curriculum. All 

project partners felt a great impact on their schools. 

Duration: 

2009-2010 

Webpage: 


62

Job-Shadowing of a Czech pre-school teacher in Sweden 




Mateřská škola Karlovy Vary, Komenského 7 (Czech Republic), Katrineholms kommun, 

Sjoholm-Strangsjo BOU (Sweden) 

Key words: Staff competences, Content 

Description: 

This job-shadowing in the Swedish kindergarten was an excellent opportunity for Ms 

Hana Komárková to observe the teaching methods used with the pre-schoolers 

abroad and thus help her in thinking of how to enhance the quality of teaching in her 

home school. 

In her report from the In-Service training, she says: "Children have similar 

opportunities to acquire knowledge and experience as in my country. Yet, I was very 

impressed that the Swedish teachers give their children far more freedom for 

autonomous selection of both room for play and equipment - particularly in the 

countryside. I was very surprised by the standards of environmental education 

and by the children's knowledge, skills and attitude to nature. I was also surprised by 

their approach to assuming responsibility for their behaviour and relationships 

within the group. Teachers carefully helped children develop and refine their 

knowledge. All activities take place in a quiet, relaxing atmosphere that reminded me 

of a harmonious family. Children get a more practical experience with the various 

ethnic groups due to the increasing rate of migration. They learn to live with these 

children in friendship, with respect for their culture, and the same is expected from 

them." 

In addition to the exchanges of teachers, both kindergartens continue their 

cooperation involving children. Existing cooperation with the Swedish kindergarten is 

carried out through well-established means – mutual communication per letters, emails 

or Facebook. Czech children play the same plays as their Swedish friends and 

the Czech kindergarten sent also some ideas and suggestions for future common 

plays and competitions. The fruitful cooperation of the above mentioned institutions 

shall continue in the future. 

Award 

National Comenius award in the Czech Republic in 2011. 

Duration: 

6 days in 2011 

63

Job-Shadowing at a French primary school 




Ecole Primaire Dacier-Angers (France), Direzione Didattica Pallavicino, Palermo (Italy) 

Key words: Staff competences, Content, Quality 

Description: 

Scelfo Donatella, a teacher working at a pre-primary school in Italy did a jobshadowing 

activity at Ecole Primaire Dacier in Angers (France). Both involved schools 

were already working together in a Comenius partnership, which allowed for a very 

good preparation of the training activity and a strong impact on teacher, host and 

home institution. 

The Italian teacher had the possibility to compare and share various methodologies 

of teaching small children; she worked together with the French teachers from the 

host institution in various "didactic atelier" with children of pre-primary schools. 

Some of the activities were also carried out in mixed groups of children (pre-primary 

and primary) in order to facilitate the "continuity" of didactic exercises and allow 

children to be better integrated in the school environment. The experience was 

considered by the beneficiary to be excellent and with an important impact on her 

professional life but also on the home institution. 

After the Job-Shadowing, the teacher was able to meet the needs of her school by 

developing small units of action to face problems related to management of 

differentiated teaching methodologies within the same class, management of 

timetables and activities respecting programmes as well as collaboration and 

communication with students’ families. 

Furthermore, among the results figured an assessment procedure and preparation of 

more readable, easy and effective documents to evaluate pre-primary schools 

and continuity and collaboration among different classes (in perspective of “vertical 

didactical continuity” within the school). After the Job-Shadowing the beneficiary 

prepared a presentation with detailed description of the host school, consequent 

activities concerning the organisation of school and the working with parents which 

was published on the school website and on the website of the schools' network in 

which the institute is participating. 

Duration: 

One week in 2010 

64

Assistantship at a Portuguese pre-primary school 

Comenius Assistantship 


Escola Básica de Vivalva, Agrupamento de Escolas n4 de Evora (Portugal) 

Key words: Content, Staff competences 

Key words: Staff competences, Diversity 

Description: 


Ms Klára Černá from the Czech Republic followed a Comenius assistantship for 10 

months at a pre-primary school in Évora (Portugal). The assistant worked with three 

classes in the kindergarten (children aged 4-6) as well as with children of the 1st and 

2nd class in the primary school. With one of her classes she started a Czech- 

Portuguese project in cooperation with a kindergarten in Prague-Vinoř. The aim of the 

project was to provide children with the basic knowledge of Czech and Portuguese 

culture by exchanging experiences, photographs, letters, pictures and songs. 

On a personal level, the assistantship represented a great learning experience, 

giving the chance to improve her language skills in English and Portuguese. 

Furthermore, the experience abroad clearly added value. 

Her personal report reflects the good integration of her in the hosting school and 

the strong impact the assistantship had on her professional as well as private life: 

"As our school is small, there is very nice atmosphere. We know and support each 

other. My colleagues are also my friends. We talk not only about working matters, but 

also about our joys and serious topics. I realized that although we come from different 

cultures, we have similar problems and strive for similar goals. I believe that I will be 

glad to return to Portugal anytime." 

Duration: 

10 months (2012-2013) 

65

Chapter 4: Early School Leaving (ESL) 

In June 2010 the European heads of state and government adopted the 

Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. 

Early school leaving and its consequences for the individual, society and economy 

hamper smart and inclusive growth. Reducing the share of early school leavers to less 

than 10% Europe-wide by 2020 is therefore one of the headline targets underpinning 

the Europe 2020 strategy. In addition, the Member States agreed to set specific 

national targets. 

Early school leaving is a serious problem both for individuals and society. Nearly 13% 

of all 18 to 24 year olds in the EU finish their education and training with only lower 

secondary education or less. That means that one in seven young people faces an 

increased risk of being unemployed or in precarious employment, of being in poverty 

and in poor health, and is more likely to depend on social benefits throughout life. It 

also means that European societies and economies currently lose out on 

approximately six million young people who could otherwise contribute to Europe's 

social and economic development. There are many reasons why some young people 

give up education and training prematurely: learning difficulties, social problems or a 

lack of motivation, guidance or support, etc. The impacts of individual and social 

conditions are also affected by the set-up of the educational system and the 

environment in individual schools. 

Therefore tackling early school leaving is the responsibility of many actors at different 

levels: from policy makers to schools, teachers, parents and the local community. 

At EU policy level, in June 2011 the Education Council adopted a Recommendation on 

policies to reduce early school leaving. It defines a common understanding of 

evidence-based and comprehensive policies to reduce early school leaving and is one 

of the tools to help Member States reducing their early school leaving rates. Following 

this, Member States started to exchange their practices and knowledge on the most 

effective ways to combat early school leaving. 

At EU programme level, Comenius has supported local and regional authorities, 

schools, teachers, research and training centers and parent's efforts to fight ESL at 

field level. In the following pages we have included only a sample of many projects 

that have had worked at school level in specific strategies such as identification of 

early warning signals, provision of specific competences and tools for teachers, 

development of career guidance services, motivation of students and teachers, health 

at schools , transition from different educational levels and cross-sectoral cooperation. 

The benefits and impact of participating in the projects have been felt at individual 

level (students, teachers) but also at institutional level (schools) that will ensure the 

sustainability of the results and the willingness to continue working to reduce the 

problem. 


http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/childhood_en.htm 

67

Social Mindedness In Learning community SMILY 


Thematic Field: ESL 


University of Catania – Dipartimento di scienze della formazione (unict)- (IT); PMF 

S.r.l. (PMF) – (IT); 4system Polska sp. z o.o (4SYS) – (PL); Kocaeli Provincial 

Directorate of National Education (KOCAELI)- (TR); enigma interactive (ENIGMA)- 

(UK); Gimnazjum nr. 2 im. Adama Asnyka)– (PL); Colegiul National Mihai Eminescu 

Iasi (CMU)– (RO). 


University of Catania – Dipartimento di scienze della formazione (unict) (Italy) 

Key words: Early warning signals, Motivation, Mental health and wellbeing at schools, 

Targeted educational support 

Description: 

Nowadays, we are used to hearing about bullying at school, vandalism and other 

acts of violence in which young people are protagonists. All this lets us think that the 

new generation doesn't have the basis of social awareness and civic mindedness. 

Many articles and studies find that the major causes of these violent attitudes can be 

traced back to the parental relationship, peer pressure, rejection and popularity, 

school failure, a system of dominator values, etc. 

The SMILEY project aims to reach the fundamental target of transforming the 

differences that exist between pupils so that they become a resource for rather than a 

barrier to integration. This will be achieved through a digital-integrated e-learning 

platform and an ERPG (Educational Role-Playing Game), connecting students and 

teachers from the partner countries, and promoting the use of ICT and Web 2.0 

technologies in order to test a reflexive approach to effective conflict-resolution 

strategies and best practices to avoid exclusion in different school contexts. 

A methodology was developed on how to reach young people on important themes 

such as bullying, racial/religious discrimination etc. through the use of the enjoyable 

online ERPG. This methodology will help teachers to get a closer understanding of 

young people and their needs. Furthermore, it was intended to train at least 160 

referred teachers directly and 1600 teachers indirectly from 5 countries on how to 

use and exploit ICT in education with products such as edu-games, e-Journals and 

social networking for educational and intercultural purposes to make learning 

attractive for young students. 

Finally, the project partners created online games for young people to analyse their 

level of social awareness. Thus, a new approach for each student can be developed 

and so assist in preventing violent attitudes, exclusion practices and the ability to 

start early re-education to foster social and cross-cultural awareness at school and 

in everyday life. 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

http://www.smileyschool.eu/4sch/servlet/MainServlet?wbts:page=core.article.show& 

68

Physical and sport activities in different environments 



PT, IT, ES, AT, BG, GR, TR, DK, RO 


Key words: Mental health and wellbeing at school, extra-curricular activities, 

Motivation, Disadvantaged groups 

Description: 

The project, ''Physical and sports activities in different environments -PYSA'', focused 

on the important role of physical and sport education of young generations in 

Europe. The objective of PYSA was to make pupils to appreciate and discover playing 

sports not only in school, but outside school hours and throughout their long life. PYSA 

aimed to enhance variable planning, methods in quality manner for predicting extracurricular 

sport practice, the only way to make mind and body to work together 

without effort, giving them the sensation of a healthy, proud and useful life as active 

European citizenship. 

Besides the individual and recovering actions, the teachers of all partner schools 

aimed to increase motivation with a range of curricular and optional activities 

such as sports, theatre, dancing, gardening, fitness, etc. Sport represents an ideal 

way of extending participation in educational opportunities, above all for teenagers. 

The project wanted to increase the value of physical and sport activities through 

interventions aiming at the acquisition of a healthy behaviour, also involving 

important environmental and sanitary aspects and improving social engagement. To 

all partners, the project offered a valid opportunity to overcome the socioeconomic 

disadvantage, reducing early school leaving and making the integration of the 

disabled attending the lessons easier. 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

www.pysa-comenius.com 


COM06-14320 

69

Heidi's Education Adventure 



TR, IT, PL, RO, SK 

Key words: Disadvantaged groups, Transition from primary to secondary, 

Involvement of parents 

Description: 


The countries involved had similar cultures and common problems. The project 

focuses on primary school children and problems during transition periods in the 

education path. It dealt with the culture of students coming from suburbs to city 

centres for high school education since pupils in suburbs had many problems when 

they went to city centre in order to go on with their education and they were sent 

there without taking any precaution. 

Therefore, the aim of this project was to find solutions to their problems by involving 

parents, pupils, teachers, local and school managements, public 

organizations, the association of school and family membership in the process. 

Through questionnaires, home visits, exchange of students it was possible to get firsthand 

information about the issues and real problems. 

Furthermore, the project carried out an evaluation based on the data collected and a 

play was presented to the students to help them to identify pupil's problems and 

their expectations. A seminar was prepared for all related institutions. At the end, a 

bulletin and brochure were designed as products and were promoted on the website 

as well. 

Thanks to this project, intercultural dialogue was promoted and solutions identified. 

All the countries prepared a CD/DVD to introduce their own culture, traditional plays 

and dances. 

Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2008-1-TR1- 

COM06-02126 

70

Teenagers in the 21st century: between difficulties and hopes 



BE, SE, PL, FR, HU, PT 

Key words: Disadvantages groups, Motivation 

Description: 


This was an inclusive project involving children and youths from disadvantaged 

contexts from heavily depressed rural areas who did not view school as an 

alternative future. The project intended to provide them with an opportunity to 

broaden their personal horizons. It dealt with teenagers' problems associated with 

adolescence, the different experiences they encounter and the issues related to their 

everyday life. 

In a difficult transitional period between childhood and adulthood, the teenagers 

usually reject authorities, rebel, and are in conflict with others. Lacking confidence 

in themselves, they often use violence, aggressive behaviour and fighting as tools 

to assert themselves. Thanks to the project the teenagers realised that they can 

build their future through hope, optimism, cooperation and creativity because they are 

the citizens of a constantly evolving world and of a new century too. Even if they meet 

problems and difficulties on their way, they can fight against them and find the way 

towards solutions and overcome the problems, they can handle their future, 

broaden their minds, and be sensitive, deal with civic and humanistic issues. 

As concrete results, the partners produced pedagogical material/lesson plans with 

different activities related to educational issues prepared by teachers of all partner 

schools; during the projects, citizenship campaigns and meetings with experts 

(psychologists, pedagogists, nutritionists, priests, local government, social welfare and 

advisors) were organized for students in local schools to discuss the difficulties and 

hopes in teenage life. 

Meeting other European teenagers in various countries helped them to become aware 

of sharing and facing the same problems, which motivated them to work together 

and think about their role in our society. 

Duration: 

2008-2010 

Website: 


COM06-00886 

71


European school and professional orientation: a necessity for all 



GR, IT, FI, DE, ES, RO, FR 

Key words: Guidance and orientation 

Description: 

The project provided the opportunity for students and teachers from different 

countries to work together on educational and vocational guidance: a must for all. 

The project aimed at the active participation of students and the collaboration of 

teachers with the school management concerning pedagogical, administrative and 

organisational responsibilities. 

The project focused on the importance of preparing students for their future, to be 

autonomous, sociable, and competent in their personal and professional lives now and 

as adults. For young people with special needs or with difficulties of learning or 

even adaptation the challenge is always superior. The partners focused on the active 

participation of students in the project which addressed the issues of racism, 

xenophobia, European citizenship, etc. 

It is essential for the project partners to sensitise the students with regard to the 

European dimension of Life Long Learning, professional orientation, the professions 

and the job market. The activities were integrated into the regular activities of the 

centres. Students were involved in all phases of the project and in the planning, 

organization and evaluation of activities. 

Award: 


Duration: 

2009-2011 

Web site: 

http://comenius-orientation-eng.blogspot.be/ 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2009-1-GR1- 

COM06-01545 

72

Eco-friendly construction for the future 

Comenius School Bilateral Partnership 


UK, BG 

Key words: Transition from school to work, Motivation 

Description: 


The partnership involves pupils aged from 14 to 17 and focusses on the topic of 

sustainable construction techniques. Both schools have identified that students 

currently involved in the Construction curriculum often have poor levels of aspiration 

and tend to be less academically motivated or successful. 

Both schools have identified community partners to support the construction 

curriculum and ensure that students have a real life work based experience. In 

both cases the partners, Civil Association Korea in Bulgaria and Teasdale Community 

Resources in the UK are developing 'green' techniques of construction using 

sustainable resources. 

The project not only developed the construction skills of the students but also 

aimed at broadening their horizons, raising aspirations and developing initiative 

and entrepreneurship within a wider European context; It allowed students to work 

jointly with their peers in the partner country on a specific construction challenge and 

learn about the use of sustainable resources in construction, to develop construction 

and entrepreneurial skills, to experience daily life in a different culture and develop 

linguistic skills and to experience a success while teachers had the opportunity to 

share pedagogical approaches. 

Award: 


Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 


COM07-05678; 

http://est.britishcouncil.org/product_show.php?id_project=2010-1-GB1-COM07- 

05678-1&id_product=1 

73

DROPS dropout prevention in schools 



Key words: Drop-out, Early warning signals, Transition from school to work 

Description: 



Coordinator organisation: Senatsverwaltung für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung - 

Außenstelle Neukölln 

Partner organisations: Röntgen-Schule 

GE – Germany Alfred-Nobel-Schule 

Tandem BQG 

EuropaBeratung Berlin 


Coordinator organisation: International Education Office, Gloucestershire County Council 

Partner organisations: Hervion College 

NL – Netherlands Koning Willem 1 College 

PSW arbeidsmarktadvies 

Both project regions face problems with early school leaving and youth 

unemployment. In order to reduce drop-out quota and improve the transition from 

school to work, relevant testing instruments and methods would be needed as well as 

an extended network of actors. Therefore, the main goal of the co-operation between 

Berlin Neukölln and s’Hertogenbosch was to develop a “toolbox” for the early 

recognition and reduction of the dropout threat. 

Through the exchange of experiences, systematic comparison of different approaches, 

job-shadowing visits, workshops and meetings and compilation of examples of good 

practice, it was possible to fill this “toolbox” with a collection of partners, measures, 

bodies/organisations, checklists, etc. The aim was to make this “toolbox” 

transferable in its application beyond the participating project partners. This 

"toolbox" is meant to be an important key to improve the networking of regional 

actors dealing with dropout problems, and it can be used by any school. At the end of 

the project both regions, together with other European partners, developed a followup 

project. 

Award: 


Duration: 

2009-2011 

Web page: 

www.comenius-regio-drops.eu 


COM13-05585 

74

Comenius Stay on Track 




Coordinator organisation: Stad Antwerpen - Algemeen Onderwijsbeleid 

Partner organisations: Central Meldpunt Antwerpen 

BE - Belgium Arktos vzw – Stedeljk Vormingscentrum Stad Antwerpen 

Fonds voor Vakopleidingen in de Bouwnjiverheid Brussel 

Leonardo Lyceum CDO Antwerpen 

Don Bosco Werken en Leeren Wilnjk 

CDO Spectrumschool Deume 

CK&W TNA – Het Leercentrum, Merksem 


Coordinator organisation: Stadtschulrat für Wien - Präsidialabteilung – Europabüro 

Partner organisations: PVS der KPH Wien/Krems 

AT - Austria KUS Network for education, social action, sports and culture 

Jugend am Werk 

Vocational school for Gardeners and Florists 

Vocational school for Construction 

Key words: Drop-out, Truancy/Absenteeism, Guidance and orientation 

Description: 


The project "Stay on Track" tackles the issues of drop-out and truancy at school and 

also at part-time employment such as apprenticeships The project intends to bring 

together strategies and good practices in a innovating modular toolbox in order to: - 

counter truant behaviour in school and on the job - prevent early school leaving - 

improve and increase the quality of pupil guidance at school and on the job. 

During bilateral meetings, study visits and job shadowing partners exchanged 

knowledge and experiences concerning educational systems and policies regarding 

truancy and drop-out: - How to prevent, detect and remediate truancy in part time / 

dual vocational education? - How can we help youngsters to find a job in the labour 

market? - How do we organize student guidance at school? They illustrated and 

compared their specific solutions and approach by way of case studies. 

Partners developed a toolbox consisting of measures, approaches, questionnaires, 

manuals and good practices. They also developed models and templates to thoroughly 

prepare and evaluate work meetings and job shadowing visits. Furthermore, study 

visits were organised for policy makers, supervisors, inspection, school 

management and representatives of the partner institutions to fortify the regional 

network. The school partners compared their approaches using a truancy mirror, 

checklists for evaluation of student counselling at school, in the transition to work and 

follow up on the job; the trainers in companies were invited to share their knowledge 

on guidance and evaluation of youngsters learning on the job. 

Overall, partners learned more about the importance of networking between 

different levels of guiding and counselling. Dissemination of collected and 

developed material was ensured through the frequently updated website. 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

www.stayontrack.eu 


COM13-02257 

75


Improving engagement and learning capacity for disaffected pupils 




Coordinator organisation: Shropshire Council 

Partner organisations: St Laurence CE Primary School 

UK – United Kingdom 


Edge Hill University 

Coordinator organisation: Hvidovre Kommune 

Partner organisations: Engstrandskolen 

DK - Denmark Laereruddannelsen Zahle 

Key words: Motivation, Educational attainment 

Description: 

Staff from all partner organisations engaged in, and supported, action research to 

gather evidence on the impact of interventions on pupils at risk of 

underachievement. It focused on how the outdoor environment could be used as a 

context for learning to enhancing pupil confidence, self-esteem, independence and 

employability and to raise standards in Science. 

The development of the confident use of Information Technology to support 

learning and to share ideas across the partner institutions was integral to the project. 

‘Mobilities’ were used to enable local authority and partner organisation staff to visit 

educational settings within the partnership in order to extend their knowledge of the 

range of strategies available to support pupils through the use of the outdoor 

environment as a context for learning. 

Findings were disseminated across the partner organisations, and shared with national 

agencies and beyond, to build capacity and establish a sustainable network, 

enabling links between the partners to continue beyond the life of the project. The 

project enabled Shropshire and Hvidovre to better support pupils in danger of 

disaffection, by providing opportunities for local authority, partner organisation and 

school staff to work together to reflect upon the impact of their practice. 

Duration: 

2009-2011 

Website: 


COM13-03670 

76

Improve inclusion – Reduce abandon. Solutions M.I.D.A.S 



Key words: Extra-curricular activities, Drop-out, Early warning signals 

Description: 



Coordinator organisation: Ayuntamiento de Xativa 

Partner organisations: IES Sant Vicent Ferrer 

ES - Spain IES Simarro 

Centro de Formación de Profesorado de Alzira (CEFIRE) 

Asociación Innoeduca 


Coordinator organisation: Câmara Municipal de Paredes 

Partner organisations: Escola Secundária de Vilela 

PT - Portugal Centro de Formação Contínua de Vilela (CFAEP) 

The project aimed to involve teachers, authorities and teacher training centres to 

integrate the connections that should exist between formal and non-formal 

education; to create a learning community between the participating regions, 

integrating local authorities, participating secondary schools, teachers, and teacher 

training centres, encouraging the use of the computing platform It also aimed to cover 

the real dimensions of dropout in compulsory and post-compulsory education and to 

encourage and upgrade school integration of students at risk of social exclusion. The 

project also addressed the promotion of use of foreign languages, improve the use of 

the Information Technologies and to use benchmarking techniques to get better 

practices. 

The results of the project are sustainable, consisting of a learning community for 

the participating regions, local authorities, secondary schools and training centres, as 

well as of a Guide with theoretical and practical materials for teachers, for 

educational centres’ psych pedagogical cabinets, for City Halls, and for training 

courses. Furthermore, two conferences were held - in Valencia and Oporto - with more 

than 600 teachers as participants, surveys were carried out, and institutional 

programmes applied in each partner country were reviewed. 

Award: 


Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

www.iessantvicent.com/projectes/midas 


COM13-20943 

77

RETAIN – a course dealing with student drop-out 




City of Gothenburg, Education Administration, (Sweden in co-operation with project 

partners and placed in Bled, (Slovenia). 

Key words: Disadvantaged groups, Motivation, Absenteeism 

Description: 

Maria Noghi is a primary teacher at Scoala Generala nr. 2, Pecica. The school 

population contains 92% Roma pupils. From the first years of teaching there, she 

noticed that Roma pupils were not at all motivated to come to school and most of 

them left the school long before finishing the compulsory education. 

Therefore, she started to look for diverse methods to reduce school absenteeism and 

ultimately school failure. She discovered that these pupils were willing to undergo 

activities which involved them directly and had practical aspects. Hence, the teacher 

participated at the training activity called "Outdoor environmental learning" 

which took place in Sweden. The objective of the training was to give the participants’ 

tools and methods how to prevent students dropping out from education and training. 

This course gave her the opportunity to learn multiple games and diverse practical 

activities which she could apply to her class. Moreover, she realized the importance of 

these activities and the positive impact they have on raising the motivation of her 

pupils to come to school. 

Since her return back home, the teacher has already used most of the activities learnt 

and she could notice that the pupils were extremely enthusiastic to participate with 

their whole being. For example, she went on a short trip with the pupils in order to 

observe nature and the changes undergone in autumn. On this occasion they 

organized a team contest, where each group of pupils represented a season of the 

year and had to present the changes that take place in nature in the respective 

season. She could notice their joy and the way they worked in teams, which brought 

them closer and more interested in school. This In-Service training had an immediate 

impact on the pupils: the number of school absences was reduced by 20% for 

her class and the teachers' professional development as they were motivated and 

encouraged to participate to the course. 

Duration: 

15-20 May 2011 

Webpage: 

www.retainproject.net 

78

Viv(r)e mon collège 

eTwinning 


BE, ES, FR, GR, IT, RO, TR 


Collège St-Joseph de la Lys, Comines, (Blgium) 

Key words: Motivation, Involvement of parents 

Description: 


The project aims to engage a shared reflection on the various forms of early school 

leaving, identifying causes and defining prevention and remediation. Another 

goal was to develop and evaluate common tools and methods in their fight against 

this phenomenon. 

In practice, the project aims to make students main actors in the process of 

remediation or prevention, through participation in interdisciplinary activities that 

promote values such as tolerance, fight against discrimination, citizenship, citizenship, 

cooperation, and self-esteem. The project also aims to involve parents in order to 

enhance the value of work and encourage a participatory approach in the context of 

the education of their children. 

Impacts for students have been (re)mobilization of their education through the 

development of autonomy and cooperative work which are key challenges, 

improved ICT skills and the development of foreign languages skills. For teachers, 

the impact was the development of project-based teaching and learning tools and 

remediation and development of foreign language skills. Impacts for parents: to value 

the work of students and teachers more highly, increased involvement in the 

schooling of their children, development or improvement of relations with the school 

and promotion of European identity. Finally for institutions, the impact was the 

development of international cooperation. 

Webpage: 


79

Chapter 5: The Teaching Professions: Teachers, 

Teacher's Educators and School Leaders 

The quality of an education system depends largely on the quality of its 

teachers, of those who educate them, and of School Leaders. Teachers play a 

vital role in helping children and young people to develop their talents and 

acquire the complex range of knowledge and skills that they will need in their 

future lives. 

The teaching professions now face rapidly changing demands, which require a new set 

of competences. The pace of change in the world is so fast, that every teacher needs 

to keep her practice under constant, critical review and adjust it in the light of 

students’ outcomes and latest research. Teaching staff need to offer individualised 

teaching so that all learners achieve specified learning outcomes, whatever their 

particular learning needs, cultural or social background; they need to take maximum 

advantage of the latest technologies and methodologies. 

In short, teaching staff in the 21st century need a radically broader and more 

sophisticated set of competences than before, and developing the competences of 

teaching staff and school leaders, including those who have been in the profession for 

a long time, is a continuing and increasingly urgent priority in all Member States. 

The challenges also affect school leadership and the support schools are providing to 

develop and maintain teacher quality. Schools need to develop into learning 

communities where everyone - pupils and teachers - is involved in sharing skills and in 

creating new knowledge; into environments for successful learning and teaching 

practice. 

This cannot be achieved without significant improvements to the ways that teaching 

staff are encouraged and supported so that they can help every learner to achieve 

optimum educational outcomes. The objective has to be the establishment of highly 

efficient and effective mechanisms to attract, recruit, educate, retain and support 

throughout their careers teachers, school leaders and teacher educators. The 

Commission has recently proposed ten priority areas for action in its document 

‘Supporting the Teaching Professions’ (Nov. 2012). 

The European Commission facilitates the exchange of information and experience 

between national policy-makers. A group of them meets regularly to discuss common 

challenges in teacher education and to share good practices. These 'peer learning' 

activities lead to policy recommendations that support national efforts to improve 

policies on teachers and teacher education. A good example of this work is the 

Handbook for Policy Makers on the induction of beginning teachers published in April 

2010. 

To complement this policy work, through the Comenius programme, the Commission 

has also supported projects tackling the different challenges facing the teaching 

professions. This compilation includes just some of these projects, which have helped 

teachers, student teachers, School Leaders and schools to improve the quality of 

learning and teaching by developing their professional competences; other projects 

focus on school and pupil evaluation and assessment in order to identify challenges 

and possible solutions. Many cross national partnership projects encourage teacher 

reflectivity to improve their teaching styles and strategies; the issues of mentoring 

and leadership are present in many projects. 

To learn more: http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/teacher_en.htm 

81

PROject-Based SCHOOL Management 


Thematic Field: Teaching professions 


Agenzia Nazionale Per Lo Sviluppo Dell' Autonomia Scolastica (IT); UNIVERSITY OF 

Peloponnhsos (GR); Inspectoratul Scolar Al Judetului Brasov (RO); UNIVERSITY 

College Ghent (BE); Universitatea "Transilvania" Brasov (RO); Universidad De 

Zaragoza (ES) 


Menderes Town Education Directorate (Turkey) 

Key words: School leadership 

Description: 

The rationale behind the project was that increased management abilities of school 

managers will improve the effectiveness of schools, effective schools will bring up 

more successful students and successful students will be a contribution to society. 

Therefore, PRO-SCHOOL project intended to provide tools to make schools better and 

more productive environments by developing a new school management methodology 

and project-based school management. 

The project produced six national research reports (TR, IT, GR, BE, RO, CZ) and a 

comparative report on school management approaches and effective school 

indicators in partner countries (available in English and in national languages) plus 

additional research on school managers' in-service training needs. 

Furthermore, it developed contents/curriculum elements for in-service training for 

school managers, based on these research results. The project resulted in a training 

course for school managers. 

A book on project-based school management methodology and training curriculum 

as well as training modules (in 7 languages) were distributed to target groups and 

used in a Comenius In-service training course. 

Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

http://www.pro-school.eu/ 


2320_proschool.pdf 

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/comenius/documents/Com_en_2008.pdf 

82


Contextual 

(CLIMATE) 

Learning in Management and Teaching in Europe 



Högskolan I Gävle (SE); Staatliches Seminar für Didaktik und Lehrerbildung 

(Gymnasien) Tübingen (DE); Tartu Ulikool (EE); Platform Opleiding, Onderwijs En 

Organisatie – Universiteit Leiden (NL); Zavod Rs Za Solstvo (SI); Umeå Universitet - 

För Svenska Och Samhällsvetenskapliga Ämmen (SE); Noordelijke Hogeschool 

Leeuwarden (NL) 


Free University of Brussels (Belgium) 

Key words: School leadership, Improving learning, Teacher reflectivity, Teacher 

educators 

Description: 

This project intended to provide tools to make schools a better and more 

productive learning environment for teachers. It investigated the relationship 

between characteristics of the work environment, learning processes within teams and 

the quality of their work. 

The project targeted facilitators of professional learning: teacher educators, in service 

trainers and advisors. As a basis for further work the project carried out research into 

the knowledge productivity of managers and teachers in schools. During the life 

time of the project, teacher teams in 16 schools were involved as associated partners. 

It developed instruments that help teachers to scan their work environment to see 

to what extent it may be considered a learning environment for them. The project also 

developed guidelines on how to introduce the framework and the instruments, process 

and analyse data, provide feedback, make use of the conclusions and how to turn 

these into actions and on how teachers may turn their work environment into a 

learning environments thus developing their own corporate curriculum. 

The projects chose to measure and describe "quality" within an area of performance 

that is relevant for teachers all over Europe: dealing with diversity among students. 

Therefore – as a side effect - CLIMATE also provides descriptions of practice 

illustrating how teacher teams' knowledge productivity in dealing with diversity can be 

raised. 

The partnership developed an inventory of good practices of how teachers develop 

parts of their own corporate curriculum and provided examples of how lifelong 

learning of staff affects the key competences of pupils and students. 

Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

http://www.socialsciences.leiden.edu/plato/climate/ 


2382_climate.pdf 

http://www.socialsciences.leiden.edu/plato/climate/project/envisaged-impact.html 

83


European CLiL in Development: A Primary Phase Consortium 



Universita 'Ca' Foscari Di Venezia (IT); Berlin Senate for Education, Sciences and 

Research (De); Universidad De Sevilla (ES); Jagiellonian University (PL); University 

College Plymouth St Mark & St John (UK) 


Liverpool Hope University (United Kingdom) 

Key words: Teacher competences, Teacher educators 

Description: 

An initial needs assessment in five countries identified support for teacher educators 

working with colleagues developing CLIL-based approaches within the secondary 

phase but little existing support for those involved in the primary phase. The 

consortium, comprising members from six institutions concerned with initial teacher 

education, formed to support primary teacher educators in introducing and developing 

CLIL pedagogies with their student teachers. 

The results of the project are relevant for teacher educators, both in pre- and inservice 

training, as well as student and practising teachers with an interest in 

CLIL. They include a mapping of national and regional contexts (CLIL approaches and 

their application in the classroom), a profile of a primary CLIL teacher (a development 

of the European Foreign Language Teacher Profile); an online portfolio (a 

monitoring/assessment tool) enabling student teachers to record their achievements 

and areas for development, and the tutor to monitor the student teacher’s progress 

and identify where support is required; and a series of training packages, on 

predetermined CLIL areas enabling teacher educators to address a range of primary 

CLIL issues with student teachers. These include commentaries on usage of video 

footage of students or experienced teachers trialling and exemplifying CLIL strategies 

within primary classrooms. 

Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

www.primaryclil.org 


2328_euclid_appc.pdf 

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/comenius/documents/Com_en_2008.pdf 

84

European Leaders' Training in Education (ELTE) 




Hogeschool Van Arnhem En Nijmegen (NL); Akdeniz Üniversitesi Egitim Fakültesi (TR); 

Umeå Universitet (SE); Latvijas Universitate (LV); Pedagogiko Institouto Kiprou (CY) 


University of Education in Upper Austria (Austria) 

Key words: School leadership 

Description: 

The most important outcome and the core of the ELTE programme is the 30 

European credits' training programme for leading personnel which was produced 

as a handbook. 

Another result is the implementation of the ELTE curriculum. In Linz, Austria the 

whole ELTE curriculum will be implemented in a Master's Programme starting in the 

summer semester 2011 which is called “Educational Management and School 

Development” (in German “Bildungsmanagement und Schulentwicklung”). 

This was possible after introducing and discussing the ELTE handbook with the rector 

and vice rectors of the University of Education in Upper Austria and after approval by 

the study commission. In Riga, Latvia the ELTE curriculum will also be implemented in 

a similar Master's Programme dealing with educational leadership. In Umeå, 

Sweden, parts of the ELTE curriculum are already implemented in principals' in-service 

activities. In Antalya, Turkey, there are considerations and good chances to implement 

the ELTE curriculum in an existing doctoral study programme in the area of 

educational management. In the Netherlands it is up to the community and the 

schools to offer principals' training courses. 

According to the consortium the added value of the whole partnership can be seen in 

the process of learning from each other. All institutions are experts in the area of 

principals' training. All countries have different systems of training and partners found 

it interesting to realise the different approaches of the methodology used in the 

modules. 

Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

http://www.swap.ac.uk/projects/a-z/0607/elte.html 


1867_elte.pdf 

85

Competences of Professional Educators in Europe 




Cardinal August Hlond Upper Silesian College Of Pedagogical Education (PL); 

Bucharest University (RO); Universiteit Twente (NL); University College Jelling / 

University College Lillebaelt (DK); Bergen University College (NO); Teachers 

Continuing Education Institution In Gdansk (PL); Casa Corpului Didactic (RO); 

Universitat De Les Illes Balears (ES); Saxion Hogescholen (NL) 


CEP MANACOR (Spain) 

Key words: Teacher competences 

Description: 

COPE aimed to make a contribution to study the competences of teachers in Europe 

at the levels of both initial and in-service teacher training. The participants in the 

project were institutions which provide initial and/or continuing teacher training. 

The project identified teachers' competences and the corresponding training needs, 

both current and desired, which was the baseline for developing a first pilot course 

at a national level in teacher competences, with different designs adapted to each 

participating country. 

Drawing from the results and best practices of that experience, the consortium 

elaborated and conducted an international Comenius course, based on a common 

design, with teachers from all the partnership's countries, in order to help promote a 

European education dimension by describing the educational system and sharing 

situations and experiences regarding multiculturalism and inclusion in the classrooms. 

It has also produced a matrix of twenty four indicators on teacher 

competencies adapted to all participating countries/regions. This instrument has 

been an important asset of the project, since it has influenced many institutions at the 

time to design local teacher training plans. 

Teacher materials are available on CD and on the web site, and numerous 

publications resulted from the project. After the end of the project, COPE has 

implemented Comenius-Grundtvig teacher training courses to take place in different 

countries up until 2013. 

Every partner institution has developed a series of actions, some still taking place, in 

order to transfer the results and outcomes of the project among students to be 

teachers, in-service teachers and teacher trainers and academic staff. And 

therefore because of the wide amount of connections with teachers at schools and 

universities, headmasters and policy/decision makers have made it possible for the 

COPE information to spread widely to a very large number of people and different 

departments involved in education. 

Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 


1800_cope.pdf 


86

Self – evaluation in schools for better education 



IT, DE, UK, CY, GR, PL, TR 

Key words: Pupil assessment, Leadership, Teacher competences, Teacher reflectivity 

Description: 

Self-Evaluation of Schools is very important to raise the quality of learning and lies 

at the heart of well managed and effective school improvement. It is based on 

evidence about the standards achieved by pupils, the quality of teaching and the 

effectiveness of leadership and management. The use of attainment evidence 

enables head teachers to be more confident in the identification of priorities and 

targets for improvement. It is also essential to provide the baseline from which 

progress can be measured, both in terms of previous best and when making 

comparisons with other schools. 

The “Comenius Project SELF-EVA” puts the self-evaluation done by the pupils in the 

centre of its activities. The “SELF-EVA-Project-Team” will test and prove: how selfevaluation 

done by the pupils will work, how self-evaluation can be done by 

questionnaires, how self-evaluation can be done and transferred via computers and 

how self-evaluation will lead to better quality in schools. 

The outcomes of the project can to be downloaded from the projects portal and 

distributed on a CD-ROM; more specifically, there is a calendar for pupils, in which on 

each sheet for each month a specific main topic of self-evaluation is explained, a short 

handbook in each of the participating schools, how self-evaluation will help during 

the learning process and how everybody can participate easily, extensive report with 

a collection of all the materials and questionnaires. 

Duration: 

2011-2013 

Webpage: 

http://www.self-eva.eu/ 


COM06-18898 

87

Working at European Talent 



BE, NL, SE 


Key words: Improving learning, Teacher competences, School leadership, Teacher 

reflectivity 

Description: 

Three schools from very different parts of Europe with specific educational and 

teachers from different disciplines worked together to introduce new didactic 

methods, based on the latest scientific insights to cater for the specific differences of 

students. The project tried such methods in order to achieve differentiation for 

different groups of learners thus enhancing the motivation of the various groups of 

learners. The project intended to works both ways, teachers will become more aware 

what didactic tools to use for which groups of learners and the learners will learn 

to select the approach which works best for them. 

The two years are divided into four parts. The groups of students selected for the trial 

period was measured at the start and end of each period. Evaluation took place at 

the end of each period and was reported to the international team international level: 

per period the evaluation and findings were used during the mobility moment of 

members of the core teams. The evaluation of all partner schools per period was used 

as the core of the visit the hosting school presenting its strong didactic point to the 

visiting partners so the teachers got the opportunity to work with the colleagues of 

their own discipline in order to exchange ideas gained during the preceding period as 

well as try out the chosen didactic approach together. 

The teachers were tested for their personal learning styles, this information was 

passed on to the headmasters, enabling them to use this knowledge in their 

leadership style to develop the school - to develop basic competences in defining 

and dividing proper groups of students according to well-defined criteria - to develop 

basic competences in guiding students to profit most from the knowledge of their own 

learning style. Furthermore the teachers learn from each other: about the ways 

how to divide students into different groups concerning their learning styles and other 

specific criteria such as learning disabilities, ethnic backgrounds and non-native 

speakers. They also got more experience in designing and implementing lesson plans 

or didactic methods that address the different groups and are suitable for those 

specific groups and were able to discuss and evaluate pros and cons in the classroom 

situation. 

Award: 


Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 


COM06-02369 

88

Standeduqual: Standards of the quality in education 

Comenius School Multilateral Partnership 


TR, BG, IT, RO 


Key words: Improving learning, Teacher reflectivity, School leadership 

Description: 

To improve the quality of education is a challenge and is a complex process. It implies 

a good planning and the effective achievement of the expected learning results, the 

observation, the self-assessment and the evaluation of the results and their 

permanent improvement. The project responded the necessity of schools in the 

partner countries of collaborating in exchanging information and experience in 

implementing quality standards, of generalization or transferring of the good 

management of quality practices. 

The participants analysed the legislative frameworks and the right strategies of the 

curriculum following the demands of local, regional and national development. The 

European partnership offered to the managerial teams and to the different 

categories of personnel flexibility, a greater opening to new things, to 

communicating with other educational systems, collaboration and transferring of 

information. It ensured a clear picture of the role of schools in relation with the 

dynamics of change that work market is undergoing, challenging people to think, to 

make an objective report of the reality in the domain of their own institution, 

encouraging the expressing of personal opinions, of the individual initiative in order to 

reach the quality standards in their own institution or domain. 

The project benefited from its own web site which displayed the main coordinates: 

objectives, partners, undertaken activities. Surveys, photographs, video materials and 

links useful for visitors were also published. At Products there are materials carried out 

by teachers and students, available to everyone interested. The site is a space created 

to disseminate the project, the management and didactic experience, each 

partner’s performance, promoting also the school value; other school institutions have 

already benefited from the results and the processes, results, products have potential 

for transferability. 

Duration: 

2009-2011 

Webpage: 

www.standeduqual.ro 

http://www.cn-minulescu.ro 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2009-1-HU1- 

COM06-01392 

89

Enhancing quality in education and preserving it 



RO, PL, TR, SE, ES 

Key words: Improving learning, Teacher competences 

Description: 


This partnership was set up to contribute to the improvement of the European 

educational process, by providing examples of best practices to the institutions 

involved, presented and applied models of lessons and classes in various school 

subjects, tackled issues related to school administration, student counselling, 

parental collaboration, school failure, increasing learners’ motivation, attendance, 

evaluation criteria and stimulating extra-curricular activities. 

The project objectives were reached by developing methods and rules that are in 

themselves tools for a better, qualitative process of education. It improved teaching 

abilities and professional performances of people involved, developed teamwork and 

responsibility while working in an international team. Active cooperation, involvement, 

problem-solving and exchanging experience were key terms of this project. The 

participants also compared systems of education and investigated management 

issues, offering to the school managers involved the chance to exchange 

information, experience and approaches responding to their various needs. 

The project book of e.qu.e.p. -golden rules for increasing quality in education, 

intends to make a positive contribution to the European educational framework. The 

rules aimed at increasing the value of the educational process and it was written for 

teachers of any subject, principals, inspectors, trainee-teachers. It also 

describes project activities that led to achieving its objectives. 

The website includes general information about partners and the project itself, 

pictures, summary and objectives, the plan of activities for the 2 years, contacts and a 

detailed Download section-with project work and results disseminated. 

Award: 


Duration: 

2008-2010 

Webpage: 

http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2008-1-RO1- 

COM06-00026 

90


Future European Teachers: Training Kit According To the Lisbon 

Strategy 



IT, GR, TR, RO, ES 

Key words: Teacher competences 

Description: 

This partnership analysed the initial European teachers training in secondary 

schools, with the aim to outline a ‘training model’ able to implement the postulates 

of the Lisbon strategy in the equipment of the future teachers basic skills. 

The training through apprenticeships promotes a virtuous synergy among the 

subjects operating on a `good practical of training' Framework activating: a) European 

dimension in initial training; b) analysis of credit transfer related to the professional 

qualification (EUROPASS); c) initial teaching training focused on the 

pedagogic/didactic innovation, the improvement of the European linguistic diversity, 

the use of the ITC methodologies, stimuli to innovation through new didactic creative 

practices; d ) a space for analysis of European training models, as for future 

teachers, tutors, mentors, headmasters . 

The partnership developed the following items: Analysis of initial teachers training 

systems in EU; Notebook - `target skills ' of the future teacher analysis; assessment 

of the mobility feasibility; Guide for Trainings tutors; `Handbook of good practical 

for trainee’; Framework/ operating profile of mentors; KIT for trainees. 

All these documents produced during the two-year partnership are available on the 

website EUROKIT. The Framework is provided in an e-book format. 

Duration: 

2009-2011 

Webpage: 

https://files.itslearning.com/data/231/64/EuroKit2.html 

http://www.scuole.provinci.it 

www.nfk.itslearning.com/index.aspx 


COM06-06274 

91


Improving engagement and learning capacity for disaffected pupils 




Coordinator organisation: Shropshire Council 

Partner organisations: St Laurence CR Primary school 

UK – United Kingdom Edge Hill University 


Coordinator organisation: Hvidovre Kommune 

Partner organisations: Engstranskolen 

DK - Denmark 

Laereruddannelsen Zahle 

Key words: Improving learning, Teacher competences, Teacher reflectivity, Teacher's 

educators 

Description: 

The project enabled Shropshire and Hvidovre to better support pupils in danger of 

disaffection, by providing opportunities for local authority, partner organisation 

and school staff to work together to reflect upon the impact of their practice. It 

focused on how the outdoor environment could be used as a context for learning to 

enhancing pupil confidence, self-esteem, independence and employability and to raise 

standards in science. The regional teacher training college was involved in order to 

support the integration of the approach into teacher training. 

Staff from all partner organisations engage in, and supported, action research to 

gather evidence on the impact of interventions on pupils at risk of underachievement 

and focussing on creativity and innovation in the area of training of teachers and 

trainers. The development of the confident use of Information Technology to support 

learning and to share ideas across the partner institutions was integral to the project. 

‘Mobilities’ were used to enable local authority and partner organisation staff to visit 

educational settings within the partnership in order to extend their knowledge of the 

range of strategies available to support pupils through the use of the outdoor 

environment as a context for learning. 

Findings were disseminated across the partner organisations and shared with national 

agencies and beyond, to build capacity and establish a sustainable network, 

enabling links between the partners to continue beyond the life of the project. The 

resulting pedagogical and methodological studies are available at request. 

Duration: 

2009-2011 

Webpage: 

www.shropshirelg.net 


COM13-03670 

92

Classroom Leadership in Real Life 





Coordinator organisation: Förvaltningen för lärande och kultur, Hudiksvall 

Partner organisations: Bromangymnasiet, Hudiksvall 

SE - Sweden Umeå Universitet, Umeå 


Coordinator organisation: Devon local authority children and young people's services, 



Exeter, England 

Newton Abbot College, Newton Abbot, England 

Keywords, Newton Abbot, England 

Key words: Teacher competences, Pupil Assessment, Leadership 

Description: 

The geographical, economic and in philosophical outlook similarities of both regions 

inspired this project to enhance teacher professionalism and collaboration to 

enable transferable life-long learning skills to empower all students to be active 

learners within a world class education system and equip them for making informed 

judgments within today’s rapidly changing society. 

The joint expertise across the partnership used evolving and innovative approaches 

to learning to learn, incorporating personal learning and thinking skills within an 

environment that develops the entrepreneurial spirit and the use of new technologies. 

It draw together, students, schools – primary, secondary and tertiary, universities, 

local/regional authorities and associated businesses to utilize, share and develop 

particular strengths and expertise to provide a European dimension to both learning 

outcomes and teacher involvement. 

The project had large impact; the final conference was arranged as two professional 

development days for all teachers and head teachers in the whole Swedish 

municipality and the UK partner made up the majority of the workshops offered very 

successfully. Applying Entrepreneurial Learning and Personal Learning and Thinking 

Skills (PLTS) in the classroom makes students aware of their own learning process, 

helps students acquire transferable learning skills and enables teachers to give skillrelated 

and formative feedback. 

The result was a digital self-assessment tool with which the student him-/herself 

assess his/her abilities for the PLTS; the result of the self-assessment can be used by 

the student and tutor when they meet. The tool (educational software) can be 

ordered and the printed materials can be directly down able. 

Awards: 


Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

mealar@gmail.com; 


COM13-04704 

93


Students' guidance in IT based open learning environments 




Coordinator organisation: Stadt Osterholz - Scharmbeck 

Partner organisations: Haupt-und Realschule Osterholz- Scharmbeck 

DE - Germany Europäisches Institut für Innovation (EIFI) e.V. 

Volkshochschule Osterholz-Scharmbeck Hambergen / Schwanewede e.V. 

Initiative D21 e.V. 


Coordinator organisation: Varbergs municipality 

Partner organisations: Peder Skrivares Skola 

SE - Sweden Lindbergs skola 

Lärarförbundet - the Swedish Teachers’ Union, Varberg 

Lärarnas riksförbund 

Key words: Improving learning, Teacher competences, Collaborative learning, 

Mentoring 

Description: 

It's a pioneering project on how to develop teacher mentoring skills by using ICT. 

Its main objective has been getting a better understanding of the process of learning 

with ICT tools in open learning environments and the enhancement of ICT based 

learning processes. The specific scope of the project was the role of teachers and 

tutors in such blended learning arrangements and the question up to what extend 

self- organised learning is possible and how guidance and feedback to the pupils 

can be organised in the best way in order to allow well customized learning for each 

pupil. Thus the project had not only a didactic side but touched also aspects of staff 

resources economy and school organisation. 

The approach to achieve the objectives has been fourfold: First, to analyse the 

practice and conditions of ICT use in self-organized learning and the specific 

requirements of support for the learners offered by the school; Secondly a guidance 

and feed-back model, the “Learn Desk” concept was developed to improve the 

student’s results in school. The “Learn Desk” should increase the access to the 

teachers during the day as a help-desk open from 8 to 8 and be a compliment to the 

ordinary teacher allowing helping students which are not able to assist ordinary school 

sessions for whatever reason. The concept was been developed by local expert groups 

in each region. Next stage was to implement the “Learn Desks” in the participating 

schools and a 6 months testing phase. Step four was dedicated to the dissemination 

of project results by planning work-shops addressed to the regional and national open 

learning community in both countries. 

The web page has the option to download the project results. The teachers in Varberg 

produced a short film describing how the participating schools worked with it as a way 

to make the school more accessible and flexible for students. 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

http://www.learndesk.eu/; http://vimeo.com/34886518 


COM13-10406 

94


ISATT - ICT in Schools, Administration and Teachers' Training 




Coordinator organisation: Administrative district of Celle 

Partner organisations: Christian-Gymnasium Hermannsburg 

DE- Germany Studienseminar für das Lehramt an Gymnasien Celle 


Coordinator organisation: Municipality of Tuusula 

Partner organisations: Hyrylän lukio, Tuusula 

FI- Finland University Jyväskylän yliopisto/ rehtori-instituutti Jyväskylä 

Key words: Improving learning, Teacher competences, Leadership 

Description: 

The growing importance of ICT in school management is well known and shown by 

the growing network of administration with school and other training centers via data 

transmission. The use of efficient school administration programmes is standard, but 

acquiring and setting them up involves high costs for the educational authority which 

have to be justified by application. This also goes for personal tutoring. Set in this 

context, the goals for the project were to analyse the value of the use of ICT for 

pupils’ media competence (eLearning), the school equipment (material and staff) 

and needs of teachers’ training. 

The main activities carried out were the comparison of the educational school systems 

of the partners in the form of assignments to the students of the teacher training 

seminar, inquiry among teachers and student teachers on the employment of 

traditional vs. new teaching methods in class and in teacher-training; presentation of 

the results of a test trial; analysis of the relevance of Content Management Systems 

(Moodle, iserve, Xmood) in teaching; Information on a Master’s degree program in 

educational leadership of the university of Jyväskylä, Finland, and other advanced 

training programs (employment of interactive boards and tablets, data abuse and 

security) and development and management of a website for the project. 

The findings of the project have led school administration to plan for the acquisition 

and installation of new media in classrooms (stationary and mobile presentation 

units). The method of inquiries was introduced as a tool for evaluation and planning 

and the existing personnel planning (Assignment of a Media Assistant position) was 

reconfirmed. The comparison of the educational school systems led to new insights in 

the area of advancement /support of slow-learning students and in other areas of 

school management (inclusion). 

In working together with schools and school administration, the participating 

teacher training institutions succeeded in developing and implementing teacher 

training concepts. 

Duration: 

2009-2011 

Webpage 

http://www.isatt.eu/fi/home/ 


COM13-05875 

95


Developing "Start-up Support" for new teachers in their first year of 

practice 




Coordinator organisation: Staatliches Schulamt Gießen/Vogelsberg (HESSE Education 


DE - Germany 

Authority, Giessen-Vogelsberg) 

Ricarda-Huch-Schule, Gießen 

Studienseminar GHRF Gießen 


Coordinator organisation: Delegacion Provincial de Education de Granada, Spain 

Partner organisations: Centro de Profesorado de Montril 

ES - Spain IES Alpujarra 

Key words: Teacher Career, Teacher competences 

Description: 

Regardless of the specific situation of the individual school (rural school or city school, 

focus school or elite high school, etc.) the introduction to the practice of the teaching 

profession is a challenge; the question of career companion for teachers was 

identified by the partners as an issue of common interest and considerable importance 

for a successful career start. 

Therefore the project partners agreed to develop and test a manual (pilot version) 

of common benefit to young teachers in both partner regions, which enables them to 

find better access to their first year of teaching practice, to exchange existing good 

practice in partner regions and to highlight best practice examples; the project will 

also carry on a survey/questionnaire for teachers in their first year of practice about 

their experiences and expectations and to evaluate the feasibility of the manual, to 

improve it and to disseminate it in both regions. 

The manual, in paper and digital version, will be available in the website for every 

school in both regions and it is intended to offer a broad variety of “Start-up 

support” for new teachers and it will help new teachers to improve the process of first 

orientation at schools; furthermore it will also offer the possibility to identify existing 

communication structures in individual institutions and between them. This may 

prepare the basis of transparency and systematic information structures. 

Awards: 

It was awarded as Project of the Month 2012 by the German National Agency 

Duration: 

2011-2013 

Webpage: 

http://comenius-regio-giessen-granada.com/ 

http://www.kmk-pad.org/praxis/pdm/pdm-10-2012.html#c14536 

http://comenius-regio-giessen-granada.com/?p=1770 


COM13-18858 

96

Schools in Europe develop talent 





Coordinator organisation Regierungspräsidium Tübingen, Abt. 7 Schule und Bildung 


DE - Germany 

Staatliches Seminar für Didaktik und Lehrerbildung 

(Gymnasien) Stuttgart 

Schulzentrum Ulm-Wiblingen, Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium 


Coordinator organisation: Landesschulrat für Oberösterreich, Linz 

Partner organisations: Verein Stiftung Talente, Linz 

AT - Austria Ramsauergymnasium Linz (Bundes- und Realgymnasium) 


Description: 

The project focuses of the different ways that education of gifted pupils is addresses 

in different partner regions: on the one hand segregate in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, 

in integrative forms in Linz, Upper Austria. The best of both funding schemes were 

recognized conceptually and systemically analysed and developed. It controlled the 

school administration at the same time running processes, extracurricular 

partners were responsible for the development and evaluation process, the 

participating schools developed the curricular models and tested it. The study also 

considered in this context, issues of gender, migration and transfer to secondary 

schools. 

The Ramsauer High School and the Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium developed specialized 

Enrichmentkonzeptionen on the basis of their educational plans and offered to design 

innovative forms of teaching. Additional extracurricular activities such as the 

Summer School or College students were integrated. The Department of Curriculum 

and Teacher Education Association Foundation and the Staatliches Seminar Stuttgart 

accompanied talents and evaluated these operations. They helped to determine the 

diagnosis and individual needs with differentiated measures within the heterogeneous 

needs. The development of a training plan for teachers allows the professional 

handling of heterogeneity and leads to a much larger potential cognitive and 

social activation in appropriate learning arrangements. This leads to an overall 

strategy of gifted education that is provided to all schools with integrated and 

segregated funding available, so as to optimize an appropriate European contribution 

to the development of special talents. The outcomes, Pedagogical and Methodological 

Studies are directly downloadable in the project site. 

Award: 


Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

www.schulen-foster-begabungen.eu 

http://est.kmk-pad.org/product_show.php?id_project=2010-1-DE3-COM13-10380- 

0&id_product=JOINT_1 


COM13-10380 

97


Effective Classroom Learning through an awareness of "Basic 

Competences 




Coordinator organisation: Bournemouth Council 



Shadows Professional Development 

Avonbourne School; Glenmoor School 

Bishop of Winchester Academy 

Portchester School; 

St Michaels Primary 

Stourfield Primary 

Moordown St John’s Primary 

Malmesbury Park Primary 

Pokesdown Primary 


Coordinator organisation: Delegacion de Huelva 

Partner organisations: CEP Bollullos-Valverde; CEP Huelva- Isla Cristina; 

ES - Spain CEP Aracena 

Shadows Andalucía 

IES San Blas (Aracena); IES Delgado Hernández (Bolludos) 

IES Rafael Reyes (Cartaya) 

CEIP Dunas de Doñana (Matalascañas); CEIP El Lince (Almonte) 

CEIP Manuel Pérez (Bollullos); CEIP Manuel Siurot (Huelva) 

CEIP Juan Ramón Jiménez (Cartaya) 

IES La Palma (La Palma del Cdo.) 


Description: 

The objectives of the project were to developing approaches to teaching and learning/ 

pedagogical skills that support the acquisition by all students of the ““Basic 

Competences” including the training of teachers in adopting a holistic approach to 

achieve the above; to encourage teachers in the classroom to integrate the “Basic 

Competences” into their subject teaching and to provide support: linguistic, 

methodological, IT support and the sharing of best practice. 

It has developed 32 topic-based "Units" in accessing Science through English as a 

foreign (additional) language; the language-neutral, subject-neutral "Model" which will 

be used as a teacher-training tool in the production of the "Units" will also allow 

future development of "Units" in other languages/subjects. 

The target students have benefited from clearer linguistic access to the curriculum, 

teachers have benefited from more effective lesson planning and teacher trainers 

have benefited from a wider vision of meeting the needs of their CLIL teachers in 

schools. The results are Didactic materials. 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/educacion/adistancia/profesorado/login/index.php 


COM13-06201 

98

Digital media? ICT? – Know how! 





Coordinator organisation: Kuratorium Oświaty w Rzeszowie 

Partner organisations: Podkarpackie Centrum Edukacji Nauczycieli w Rzeszowie 

PL - Poland Publiczna Szkoła Podstawowa w Czarnej 

Publiczne Gimnazjum nr 1 w Łancucie 

Gimnazjum Katolickie w Stalowej Woli 

Szkoła Podstawowa nr 11 z Oddziałami Integracyjnymi w Jarosławiu 


Coordinator organisation: Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Unterricht und Kultus 

Partner organisations: Akademie für Lehrerfortbildung und Personalführung Dillingen 

DE - Germany Bischof-Ulrich-Schule Illertissen 

Josef-Anton-Schneller-Volksschule (Hauptschule) Dillingen 

Bismarckschule Memmingen (Hauptschule) 

Dominikus-Hertel-Volksschule (Grundschule) Boos 

Key words: Teacher competences, Improving learning, Leadership 

Description: 

The main objective was to update teachers' skills and knowledge so that they make 

best use of the new opportunities created by information and communication 

technologies to support learning and teaching, and competence development. In 

relation to the subjects taught by the teachers involved and regarding the technical 

equipment of the partner schools, the project focussed on how to use multimedia 

devices (e.g. interactive digital whiteboards), how to use the internet for creating 

teaching materials and aids, which computer programs can be used during lessons, 

how to teach using e-learning, make lessons more attractive and the role of ICT in 

self-learning, search of an optimal balanced mixture of computer-based and traditional 

learning methods and finally how ICT can support headmasters' management. 

The promotion of digital media equipment enabled the participating schools to 

purchase necessary modern technology for teaching and learning with a focus on 

digital interactive whiteboards. The new methods tried and approved by single 

teachers aroused interest among the colleagues of the participating as well as of 

surrounding schools. 

As the (in-service) teacher training institutes of both regions were leading 

partners of the project all results will have a direct and enduring impact on their 

courses and programs. Due to the positive experiences during the project the 

participating teachers, headmasters and personnel of the central institutions 

are more capable to convince decision makers of the advantages of self-guided 

learning with digital media and the necessity of appropriate equipment as well as 

organisational and structural procedures. The results were published and distributed 

among schools and other educational organizations in the partner regions and it is 

available on their website. 

Award: 

EST star projet 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

http://www.multimedia-; 


COM13-11547 

ict.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=15&Itemid=2 

0&lang=en 

99


Cross-cultural practice-oriented teacher education - Interkulturelle 

praxisorientierte Lehrerbildung 




Coordinator organisation: Staatliches Schulamt für den Landkreis und die Stadt Kassel, 


DE - Germany 

Hessen 

Georg-Christoph-Lichtenbergschule (Kassel), 

Studienseminar für Gymnasien in Kassel, Zentrum für 

Lehrerbildung der Universität Kassel, Hessen 


Coordinator organisation: Ville de Nancy, Lorraine 

Partner organisations: Lycée Général et Technolologique Ernest Bichat, Université 

FR - France Henri Poincaré, Nancy 1 (IUFM de Lorraine), Centre 

Régional 

Lorraine 

de Documentation Pédagogique Lorraine, 

Key words: Improving learning, Teacher's educators 

Description: 

The project's objective was to ensure better coordination between the different 

phases of the training of teachers and to improve the provision of education and 

training in the partner regions. The emphasis was on intercultural and language 

skills of teachers and the provision was intended oriented practices. The project 

partners grasped the complexity of both systems and were engaged in the 

implementation, information, training, publishing and distribution of resources for 

students and teachers. 

The project focussed to provide tools and devices for perennial continuing education 

for teachers of French-based civilization and culture. It has developed an intercultural 

portfolio for support to teachers, students and trainee teachers in training observation, 

a model of the intercultural approach to secondary education in France, a model 

study tour in France teachers for German students intending to teach French, centered 

observation classes in school and organised exchanges with French counterparts. It 

also developed intercultural module for students in the course teaching M1 German / 

French or DNL (non-linguistic discipline). 

All products of this partnership are transferable to other regions/countries and be 

adapted to the needs expressed elsewhere. On the German side, an association 

(Frankreichforum Hessen) was created to broadcast the ideas from partnership 

through projects. All results of the project are available on the homepage of the 

project. 

Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 

http://regio.lg-ks.de./ 


COM13-10560 

100

Unlimited Learning 





Coordinator organisation: Childcare and Education department, city of Mölndal 


SE - Sweden 

Bifrost pedagogical unit 

Lackarebäck pre-primary schools 

Krokslätt primary school 

Sörgård general secondary school 

Askengren & Co. 


Coordinator organisation: Giresun Milli Egitim Mudurlugu (municipality) 

Partner organisations: Yetmisbesinci Yýl Anaokulu 

TR - Turkey Cumhuriyet Ðlköðretim Okulu 

Gazipasa Ðlkögretim Okulu 

Espiye Halk Egitim Müdürlügü (adult education) 

Key words: School leadership, Collaborative learning 

Description: 

The aim of project was to create and offer Unlimited Learning for all children and 

students in the partner regions and go from a teaching organisation to a learning 

organisation. More specifically, the project objectives were to define and try out 

indicators for a learning organisation, to find out how to organise and manage a 

learning organisation, to create sustainable local and European networks, to use 

ICT as a creative tool in the pedagogical process and to try and evaluate Action 

Learning (AL) as a method for cross border cooperation. 

A learning organisation needs to be managed by a learning leader; a non-learning 

leader will not recruit learning persons and will also suppress a learning attitude 

eventually. Action Learning can be useful for organising learning groups that help in 

constant learning, the foundation for a learning organisation. Therefore, learning 

leaders are the core of the learning organisation and learning management sets the 

framework for the learning organisation. During the first year partners, discussed the 

challenges: “what is a learning leader? What is a learning organisation? What are the 

optimal conditions for learning?”. During the second year, it addressed the 

identification of the needs and competences of a learning leader and develops actions 

for change and development. 

Main results were studies of local and transnational action learning groups, 

workshops on “leadership” and “competences”, movies reflecting the effect of i-pads 

on pupils, learning exhibitions, project logo, website, learning materials and booklet 

of the project, published in three languages. The movie showcases interviews with 

headmasters and teachers on how they perceive their own inner journey and change 

and what they see at this point in time. They also discuss how this inner change is the 

basis for organisational change. The materials are available in EST site. 

Award: 


Duration: 

2010-2012 

Webpage: 


COM13-04705 

101


Global improvement in teaching and learning across curricular 

transversal subjects 

eTwinning 


ES Barres i Ones (Badalona, Spain); 12. Schule in Mitte (Gymnasium) (Berlin, 

Germany); The Long Eaton School (Long Eaton, UK); Perstorp Gymnasium (Perstorp, 

Sweden); ITIS con Liceo Tecnologico (Crema, Italy) 

Key words: Improving learning, Teacher competences, Teacher reflectivity, 

Collaborative work 

Description: 

This project, involving schools from across Northern and Southern Europe, aimed to 

embed Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) into the curriculum of all 

partners. Through learning the content of different subjects, including concepts such 

as learning to learn, in a foreign language, the project aimed to increase students' 

awareness of the need to be able to communicate effectively and enable them to be 

more autonomous learners. 

These skills will allow students to be more successful in a globalised society. Teachers 

participating in the project had the opportunity to develop, test and share CLIL 

materials in a wide variety of subject areas including Maths, Science, Technology and 

Humanities. 

Through a constant process of evaluation, the project asked teachers to identify 

and encourage best practice by combining ideas and methods from across the 

partner institutions. A continual focus on using collaborative work and 

communication as the main tools for developing the partnership ensured that all 

participants benefit from the pan-European nature of the project. 

Duration: 

Year 2012 

Webpage: 

http://www.etwinning.net/it/pub/profile.cfm?f=2&l=it&n=85476 

http://www.etwinning.net/en/pub/profile.cfm?f=2&l=en&n=85476 

102

Pasi Siltakorpi, teacher from Finland, and eTwinning 

eTwinning 


Pääskytie school, Porvoo (Finland) 

Key words: Improving learning 

Description: 


The ten eTwinning projects coordinated by one teacher from Finland have increased 

the motivation of pupils with learning difficulties and attracted other teachers from 

the region to start European cooperation. The projects were implemented via the 

eTwinning platform and themselves did not receive any funding from the Commission. 

They covered a wide range of themes including: upgrading ICT, video and digital 

imaging skills, intercultural communication skills, using ICT to support the learning 

process of children with special educational needs, support for transition to working 

life and looking at career opportunities in the EU, and introducing eTwinning to 

other teachers from the town and the region. The project activities have attracted 

the attention of the national media which brought better visibility and recognition of 

European projects to a wide public. 

Pasi Siltakorpi says "For my pupils it has been very uplifting to find out that they can 

communicate with their foreign friends although they have learning difficulties. This 

and all the good publicity we have had in newspapers and even on national television 

has strengthened their self-esteem; not forgetting national awards that we have won 

twice. I feel that our example has also encouraged other teachers to do projects. 

At least the number of projects in my hometown has increased during the last years. 

Doing international projects has its effects on everyday school work as well. I have 

always believed that learning should be fun and motivating. eTwinning is one way to 

make it happen." 

Duration: 

diverse projects 

Webpage: 

http://www.edu.fi/etwinning/opastusta/kuukauden_opettaja/pasi_siltakorpi_kumpulan 

_koulu 

103

104

Annex: COMENIUS Programme 

Part of the European Life-Long Learning Programme 

What are the aims? 

Specific objectives: 

To develop knowledge and understanding among young people and educational 

staff of the diversity of European cultures and languages and its value 

To help young people acquire the basic life-skills and competences necessary 

for 

their personal development, for future employment and for active European 

citizenship 

Operational objectives 

To improve the quality and to increase the volume of mobility involving pupils 

and educational staff in different Member States 

To improve the quality and to increase the volume of partnerships between 

schools in different Member States, so as to involve at least 3 million pupils in 

joint educational activities during the period of the programme 

To encourage the learning of modern foreign languages 

To support the development of innovative ICT-based content, services, 

pedagogies and practice in lifelong learning 

To enhance the quality and European dimension of teacher training 

To support improvements in pedagogical approaches and school management 

Who can participate? 

Basically everyone involved in school education: 

Pupils in school education up to the end of upper secondary education 

Schools, as specified by Member States, from pre-school up to the end of upper 

secondary level 

Teachers and other categories of staff within those schools 

Associations, not-for-profit organisations, NGOs and representatives of those 

involved in school education 

Persons and bodies responsible for the organisation and delivery of education 

at 

local, regional and national levels 

Research centres and bodies concerned with lifelong learning issues 

Higher education institutions 

Bodies providing guidance, counselling and information services 

Specific eligibility rules: 

Schools participating in the Comenius Programme must be located in a country 

participating in the LLP and belong to any of the types of institution specified by the 

relevant National authorities in their list of eligible school types 

(link: http://ec.europa.eu/education/comenius/eligible_en.htm) 

105

Please note also the specific cases below: 

1) Schools under the supervision of national authorities of another country 

(e.g. lycée français, German school, UK "Forces" schools). The national authorities 

responsible for supervising the administrative, financial and curricular regime of the 

school concerned shall decide which establishments are eligible to participate. This 

principle implies the following operational modalities: 

The participation of the "national schools" located in a different country will be 

supported by the Comenius budget of the supervising country (= "country of origin"). 

These national schools can participate in any type of Comenius activity and the same 

rules shall apply to them as to any other eligible school from the supervising country. 

2) Specialised schools. The decision on the participation in Comenius of other 

national schools, such as minority schools, private schools for expatriates etc. is the 

remit of the national authorities of the country in which the institution is located. 

3) European Schools. The European Schools are official educational establishments 

controlled jointly by the governments of the Member States of the European Union. 

European schools are eligible institutions for participation in Comenius. They shall 

apply to the NA of the country in which they are located and shall be subject to the 

same selection procedure as local schools. In the case of Belgium, the three NAs will 

agree on appropriate arrangements. European schools are subject to the same 

Comenius rules as any other eligible school in the country in which they are located. 

However, the participation of European schools - either as a coordinator or as a 

partner - will be limited to one European school in each Partnership. Staff from 

European schools are entitled to participate in Comenius in-service training under the 

same conditions as staff from any other eligible school. 

What types of activity? 

The following actions are supported by the Comenius Programme: 

Mobility of individuals to another European country, which may include: 

exchanges of pupils and staff within the context of a project or partnership, 

individual pupil mobility in the context of an on-going or previous School 

partnership, participation in training activities for teachers and other 

educational staff, preparatory visits for School Partnerships, Networks and 

Multilateral Projects and assistantships for future teachers. 

School Partnerships between schools from different European countries, with 

a view to developing joint learning projects for pupils and their teachers. 

Comenius Regio Partnerships between local and regional authorities with a 

role in school education. Their aim is to enrich the educational offer for school 

aged young people by supporting the cooperation between school education 

authorities, schools and other educational providers in different European 

regions. 

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The eTwinning initiative takes advantage of the possibilities offered by the 

Internet and digital media to promote European school cooperation, 

collaborative 

learning and project based pedagogy. 

Multilateral projects aim to develop, promote and disseminate new curricula, 

new teacher training courses or materials and new teaching methodologies, 

and to provide a framework for the organisation of mobility activities for 

student 

teachers. 

Multilateral Networks aim to promote European co-operation and innovation 

in specific thematic areas of particular importance to school education in a 

European context. 

Accompanying measures aim to support various activities which will clearly 

contribute to achieving the Comenius Programme objectives. 

What are the COMENIUS actions? 

COMENIUS Preparatory Visits 

COMENIUS Assistantships (Assistants) 

COMENIUS Assistantships (Host Schools) 

COMENIUS Individual Pupil Mobility 

COMENIUS In-Service Training for Teachers and other Educational Staff (IST) 

COMENIUS Multilateral school partnerships 

COMENIUS Bilateral school partnerships 

COMENIUS Regio Partnerships 

COMENIUS Multilateral projects 

COMENIUS Multilateral networks 

COMENIUS Accompanying measures 

eTwinning 


http://ec.europa.eu/education/llp/official-documents-on-the-llp_en.htm 

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