TS
OF MUD COMENIUS SCHOOL PROJECT:
LIFE IN PROTECTED AREAS!
WHAT ARE THE COMENIUS PROJECTS?
The aim of the Socrates
Programme is to promote European co-operation in education matters. One
of the activities this programme covers is the Comenius School Projects.
The general
objectives of the Socrates Programme are the following:
To
reinforce the European aspect of education at all levels and to facilitate
transnational access to educational resources in Europe.
To foster quantitative and
qualitative improvement in the learning of languages in the European Union.
To promote co-operation and
mobility in the education area, encouraging exchanges between schools.
To foster innovations in the
development of educational practices and material.
To contribute to promoting
equal opportunities and the integration of people with disabilities.
With regard to these objectives, the Comenius school projects promote
transnational co-operation between schools. These projects enable staff
and students from participating countries, at least three of them, the
chance to work together on certain themes linked to the common curriculum.
Through the exchange of experiences, students increase their general knowledge,
discover the differentiating elements of the cultural, social and economic
diversity of Europe and learn to understand and give more value to the
opinions of others. As a result, the motivation of the students can increase
as well as their ability to communicate in foreign languages. In addition,
these projects foster teamwork in students and teaching staff.
WHAT DOES
THIS PROJECT CONSIST OF?
The project
is studying the life in different protected areas where the centres are
located or near them. It started during the 2001-2002 academic year with
the presentation of the participant countries, schools and groups of students,
it was followed with the division and description of the areas chosen.
During the 2003-2004 academic year, it has looked at the flora and fauna
and it will finish off in the 2004-2005 academic year with the study of
cultural heritage.
During the development of the project, the students prepare diverse written
compositions, drawings, paintings and other artistic pieces of work, photographs,
etc. and through the new information and communication technologies, they
inform students in other countries about their protected area.
The teaching staff and the students of each centre choose the information
for the website in the five languages of the participating students: Welsh,
English, French, Catalan and Spanish. The project spreads over three academic
years and a selection of the contents is worked on during each course.
Specific actions are also carried out in the protected areas, such as
signposting a particular stretch of path, clearing up certain areas, etc.
in collaboration with other institutions responsible for each of the protected
areas.
The teaching staff participating in the project and the heads of each
centre meet twice during the course. The first meeting, at the beginning,
to specify the work for that academic year and the second, at the end,
to evaluate the progress. At these meetings, they get to know and visit
certain zones in the protected areas of each of the countries. As a conclusion
to the piece of work, and taking the website as a reference, a CD-ROM
will be published that will also serve to disseminate the project.
MAIN
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT
The main
objective is to share information to enrich the knowledge of the participants
in the project about other European cultures. This main objective is divided
into different goals related not just to the students but also the teaching
staff, the school community and the regional context. Of these, we should
highlight the following:
To favour personal
enrichment through the knowledge of other cultures.
To produce and exchange information about the areas studied in all the
languages of the countries involved in the project.
To promote and use information and communication technologies.
To favour the integration of students with special education needs into
European projects.
WHO
PARTICIPATES AND COLLABORATES IN THIS PROJECT?
A total of 32 teachers, 365 students aged between 3 and 21, 31 of whom
have special education needs participate. The
participating centres and the study areas are the following:
Z.E.R. Barida-Batllia
A rural
school area which has students in the Infant and Primary School stages,
composed of five schools in different municipalities in the region of
Cerdanya in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia (Spain).
The protected areas which are the object of the study are the Cadí-Moixeró
Natural Park and the Vall de la Llosa Natural Reserve.
The collaborating institutions are the following:
Parc
Natural del Cadí-Moixeró
Consell Comarcal de
la Cerdanya
Consell Comarcal de l'Alt Urgell
Ajuntament
de Montellà-Martinet
Ajuntament
de Prats i Sampsor
Ajuntament
de Prullans
Ajuntament de Lles de Cerdanya
Centre de Recursos Pedagògics
de la Cerdanya
A school which has
students in the Infant and Primary School stages, in Llandudno, in Wales
(Great Britain). The protected areas which are the object of the study
are Great Orme Country Park and Eryri Snowdonia National Park. The
collaborating institutions are the following:
Great
Orme Country Park
Conwy
Council
Llandudno
town hall
Eryri
Snowdonia National Park
A school with students
in the Infant and Primary stages in Rivesaltes, in the Eastern Pyrenees
Region (France). The protected areas which are the object of the study
are Py Natural Reserve and Banyuls sur Mer Marine Reserve. The
collaborating institutions are the following :
Mairie de Rivesaltes
Reserve
Natural de Banyuls
Conseil General des Pyrénees
Orientales
Reserve d'initiation
a l'ecologie montagnarde "Les Isards"
Reserve
Naturelle de Py-Mantet
Centre d'Education Spéciale Gloria Fuertes
Centre with special
needs students from all the stages, in the region of Andorra-Sierra de
Arcos, in the province of Teruel, in the Autonomous Community of Aragon
(Spain). The protected area that is the object of the study is Río
Martín Cultural Park. The
collaborating institutions are the following:
Associació
Parque Cultural del Río Martín.
Comarca Andorra- Sierra
de Arcos
Ajuntament d' Andorra
