EDS France 5th-9th May 2015
Participants: Turkey (2 teachers, 2 students), Norway (4 teachers and 4 students), Italy (2 teachers, 5 students), Poland (3 teachers, 2 students), Portugal (3 teachers and 3 students), Spain (2 teachers, 3 students), Romania (3 teachers, 1 student)
Lycée Tezenas du Montcel, 14,16 place Girodet, 42000 Saint-Etienne
The ninth and final mobility in the Comenius Multilateral school project entitled “European Digital Stories” took place in Saint-Etienne,France from 5th to 9th March, during the ‘’European Week’’ organized by the city of St-Etienne. Tezenas du Montcel school which hosted the participating schools from 8 countries also organized a “European week and exhibitions for this occasion.
This mobility, entitled a “Call for Europe”, was aiming at finalizing this two year-project and concluding it by a commun show which turned to be a giant European flashmob in the city centre but was also to learn about the French culture and discover the Rhône_Alpes region of France .The objectives of this mobility were fully achieved.
Objectives of mobility:
Teachers:
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to see the French teaching environment;
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to discover important elements of French history, identity, traditions and culture;
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to create an intercultural and interreligious perspective of folklore traditions and customs;
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to complete work on ways of dissemination of the project ideas;
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to write the final report
Students:
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to see the French learning environment;
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to discover important elements of French history, identity, traditions and culture;
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to experience an intercultural and interreligious perspective of folklore traditions and customs
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to take part on different social activities together with the other involved in the project;
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to give students the opportunity to develop international team skills;
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to develop English language skills
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to prepare and organize a common show and party.
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To rehearse for the European Flash mob, entitled “Hip Hip Hop Europe”
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And to communicate about the European Union.
Daily activities:
5th.2015
Activity 1: Reception at school
Activity 2 : visit of the school
Activity 3: meeting games
Activity 4: cultural visit to the mine museum.
The first day started with the reception at the host school. The French students prepared a welcoming song for the international team. Some movie makers retracing the 2- year project were shown.
Afterward teachers and students visited classes and lessons in hosted school and the exhibitions about Europe created by the French school pupils.
In the afternoon, teachers started to work on the dissemination procedures while students did some integration activities.
Later, the international team went for a cultural visit to the Mine museum of st Etienne to learn about the industrial mining past of the city.
In the evening , students went to the French hosting families and teachers had a French dinner with traditional French music.
06.05.2015
Activity 1: preparation of the show (students and teachers )
Activity 2: Work on the final report writing (coordinating teachers)
Activity 3: Cultural visit of the city of the Design and overview of the town.
Activity 4: Cultural visit, guided tour of the city centre and ancient part of the town.
On the second day students started to rehearse for the evening show, while teachers started to complete the final reports. Then the whole group walked to the former main factory of the town which now turned into a cultural pole They visited the museum of design. They climbed a metallic tower to see an overview of the town.
In the afternoon all the delegations did a tour of the city guided by 2 Tourism students from Tezenas du Montcel school. Later they were received by the Deputy Mayor at the Town Hall. Then went to see a Polish concert.
07.05.2015
Activity 1: Work on final reports (teachers)
Activity 2: Rehearsal of the choregraphy ofr the Flashmob with professional dancers. (students and teachers)
Activity 3: pique-nique by the River Loire and French and international games.(all)
Activity 4: visit of a medieval village.
On the third day of the mobility, the coordinating teachers continued to work on the reports. The rest of the group met 3 professional teachers who came to teach them the choregraphy for the flashmob.
Then the whole group took a bus to the outskirt of St Etienne to picnic by the river Loire at the beach of St victor where they played traditional and international games. Then they visited the medieval village and could have a look over the “Gorges the La Loire”. In the evening the students performed their intercultural shows and a traditional dinner was served, to finish with a European dancing party.
08.05.2015
Activity : cultural visit of Lyon
In the morning, teachers and students did a cruise on the two rivers of Lyon, the Saône and the Rhône to have a comprehensive view of the city. Later they could visit the old town and learn about the history of the town and visit various monuments.
09.05.2015 European day
Celebrations and activities around the European day organized by the city of St Etienne in collaboration with Tezenas du Montcel teachers and this Comenius project.
Activities : football tournaments of the 28 nations,
concerts,
Flashmob,
Europ’Art, (drawing contest),
battles of European dances.
Teachers and students of the project took part in the celebrations of the European Day celebrations.
Amongst many activities they initiated and were central in the flashmob, dancing hip hop on a modern version of the European hymn. They also had a stand where students offered to make the faces of volunteering people the flag of their nation. It was an another way to mix with the population and communicate about their Comenius project and Europe.
We finish this day by dinner together.
Conclusion: The mobility in France enhanced students’ chances on exploring European identity through all the activities and workshops that they participated in. Furthermore, they have learned more about the French way of life and the region Rhône- Alpes. Throughout the mobility all the students could work in groups on the tasks that challenged their creativity and team spirit. They also enjoyed sharing, spending time together and being at the very centre of a big European event.
Thus showing the population and visitors of St Etienne that they share common values and could define themselves as European citizens.
It is also the ending of a two-year successful project, uniting 9 countries. All the nations and the participants proved that they could collaborate and share experiences.
As a conclusion, many skills (IT, languages, social, organizational, traveling…) have been developed. Friendship either created or strengthened and European identities enhanced .