NOTE
This analysis is a synthesis of the reports sent by the project partners as a result of applying questionnaires to the participants in the Portugal TTALA activity as well as to all the persons involved in the process within each participating school.
The analysis is designed to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats during the TTALA activity in Portugal and to remedy and improve the activities that will follow during the project.
This evaluation tool to which all project coordinators have agreed on help us as a team, to improve our approach to achieving the goals in the application form and to generate the proposed impact on the school, the community and to recognize the European dimension given by the opportunity to run this project in our schools.
SWOT analysis TTALA – Portugal
Strenghts– all the participants (students, parents and teachers) indicate that the main goals of the project (teaching activities, good organisation, accommodation etc.) are being achieved very well/excellently.
The teachers stressed that during the TTLA in Portugal the activities like teaching activities, good organisation, accommodation etc. were conducted excellently.
In the field of organisation “planned activities occurred on time” and „all materials necessary for work” were prepared excellently. The accommodation (except the distance between the school and the hotel) was also marked “excellent”. The other activities were graded “good” and “very good” at least. This proves that the first TTLA meeting was positive in all fields.
The students stressed that they managed to “improve their knowledge about culture”, “participate in the host family”, “communicate in English”, “take part in trips” and “make friends” excellently. They also marked “satisfaction from the project” the highest. The students liked “communication through games – playing games” and “ presenting representative local municipality” very much. The project activities were considered positive by them.
The parents also highly marked their child's participation in the project. They marked excellently that “he/she can make friends from other countries”. They marked graded well other skills like: “teach my child to use ICT tools to search for and obtain information and “encourage my child’s better behavior at school”.
- Making friends
- Respect each other
- Improve knowledge of culture and host country
- Communication in English went well
- Excursions were very interesting
- The building of the school is large and suitable enough to do any kind of activities and the hall for lunch is an advantage to save time.
Weakness-
Budget planning/expenses.
Hosting teachers had to teach regular lessons and presenting the project workshops in between
Some guests parents did not speak any English
Opportunities
- the “teaching activities” will become more attractive for the students and they will become the inspiration for the teacher to work. The co-operation and parent/teacher/student information passage will improve with maintaining mutual respect.
Travelling without parents is a challenge for young students who gain self-confidence.
European dimension of social contact and friendships; reduce prejudices; practice English; teamwork in international groups; innovative teaching methods;
The pupils got opportunity to use gestures as means of learning a foreign language;
The pupils had the chance to stay in a Portuguese home learning about lifestyle and culture;
Teachers and pupils had the opportunity
To taste local food and to listen to tradidtional music fado.
Swot analisys TTALA Croatia
Croatia - self evaluation:
1. Analysis of the questionnaires for teachers
a) PROJECT – TEACHING ACTIVITIES
Project teaching activitiesin Croatia have been evaluated with very high marks. The highest marks got the opening ceremony, workshops in town (InternationalChildren's Festival), learning through games – lessons, share of teaching methods (students withs pecial needs or disabled), communication through games – playing games. Other activities are alsohighly evaluated. All the members of the TTLA meetingin Croatia came well prepared for the activities and all the teaching objectives are accomplished. More than 100 students from other schools took part in the International Children's Festival workshops. Through these workshops we made our project recognizable for the wider range of public. According to the answers,techers were very satisfied with the organized trips, sport games and dances and respect to eachother.
Weak points of the project activities are presenting representative of the local municipality because it couldn't be organized in the facilitie sof the city administration since in that period we had the elections.
b) ORGANISATION
Teachers evaluated organisation with the best marks. Preparation for the TTLA meeting in Croatia was very long andeverything was planned verycarefully.Information about travel, accommodation, host families and pupils were sent on time. We presented the historical and cultural tradition of Šibenik and Croatia as well as the natural heritage and protected areas of our region. Partners got all materials necessary for the work program andwe had meetingswhere we analysed our present work and agreed on the future activities.
As the weak points of the organisation we would like to emphasize the external factors which influenced our scheduledactivities. Some activitiesinthe NP Krka couldn't be done on time becausethe NP Krka management didn't organized our boatrides on time. Also, some car rides were late because of thetraffic jam.
c) ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation was evaluated as perfect with the highest marks and it was convenient for everybody: apartment, meals in restaurant, other meals, the price was reasonable in relation to quality, apartment location, transport (rented buses, cars, helping to use public transport).
2. Analysis of the questionnaires for students
According to the analysis of the questionnaires for students, they were very satisfied with the organized TTLA meeting in Croatia. They evaluated with the highest marks: respect to eachother, sport games and dances, communication through games, communication on English, make friends, participation in host families, presenting schoolfacilities. Students participated actively in every game, and through games and dances they could learn about tradition and culture of other countries. As an extremely positive thing we emphasize students' mutual respect, active participationin all the activities and verygood, warm welcome and pleasant environment in the host families.
Students evaluated with high marks other activities too, but a little bit lower than the previously mentioned ones. Reasons are probably lying in the fact that students prefer learning through games than the classic lessons. In learning through games they were active and did their tasks with more interest.
With the lowest marks, but nevertheless eaqually high, they evaluated:presenting representative local municipality and improving knowledge about culture of host country.
We have already explained the reason- it was the election period and therefore we couldn't organize presentation in the facilities of the city administration. Some pupils gave bad marks for the presentation of the cultural monuments. Probably becauseit was in English and lost of professional words and phrases were used so the students found it hard to follow.
3.Analysis of the questionnaires for parents
All the items were evaluated with very highmarks. The meeting for the host parents was held in our school where they expressed satisfaction with the fact their children have taken part in such a positive project. They aremostly pleased with their children improving and using English in everyday communication, making friends with students from other countries and communication with peers from other countries using ICT tools and foreign languages. Parents think that participation in this project heighten their child's self-esteem.
During the TTLA meeting students didn't use the ICT tools so much since that was not the main goal of the project. Parents appreciate thefact that their child spent more time with friends and not playing computer games.
Evaluation of participating partners
Strengths
Relevant information was provided
Well organised programme
Lessons well prepared and adapted to the project’s objectives
The school building is suitable enough to do any kind of activities
Attendance of the host students to any kind of activities and visits helped our pupils make friends easily and to socialize in an easy way.
The festival was an excellent opportunity for the students to bound
Nice resources were created by the host school
The activity made with special needs pupils had a meaningful product in the end as creating the flags of the partner countries.
Fairly well defined responsibilities and tasks
The organization of the sightseeing and visits was perfect and educational enough without making guest pupils and teachers get bored or tired.
Host families’ knowledge of English and hospitality
The competition was totally related to the project and the interaction of the teachers encourage the pupils to feel self-confident.
The information about the host families was sent early enough so that the pupils could get in touch with each others and communicate before even meeting each other. This connection made before, gave the pupils the opportunity to get easily over the nervousness of the first moments. The parents also communicated during the TTALA, the host parents constantly gave information about the guests pupils.
The pupils felt like home, and the families were ready to meet all the guest pupils’ needs.
The team in the school was very well built, communication was effective, and everybody knew their tasks.
Dinners organized in the restaurant was perfect, the owner of the restaurant make everybody feel welcomed and enjoy their time.
The skills aquired by the students during the TTALA were:
teamwork, more confident, improved communications kills, improved sense of responsibility, problem solving, making friendships, independence, thinking outside the box, more active life, leadership qualities, creativity, logical thinking, skills to work in transnational groups.
The parents also think and appreciate the usefulness of participating of their children in these kind of project as well as the big impact on their proffesional and personal life.
Weaknesses
No time allotted to analyse the magazine and give feedback on the work done by the authors
For the traditional dances, some countrie did not have their traditional costumes, if they’d had, the impact of the dances would have been stronger.
The sound sistem was too weak there was difficult to hear the music and dance in the same time.
Opportunities
The Croatian school timetable is perfect with only morning classes which made it easier to organise trips in the afternoons
The fact that project coordinators and collaborators of the host school are freed from teaching during the exchange
The pupils got the opportunity to learn different traditional dances and also they were familiar to the international games played on the stage, so it made them feel confortable and eager to play together.
Students can accompany their partners all the time
The landscapes of the country was an advantage for the Croatian team, because the fortresses, waterfalls, and old town visits helped us learn many thing about history and geography of the cuntry.
The pupils had the chance to live in the families and learn about their lifestyle and culture.
Threats
Lack of communication between some partners
Portuguese teachers are loaded with extra-work as they have to compensate before or after the TTLA the lessons they are missing
Portuguese pupils who participated had all their tests when they came back