D.2.+Rationale

=D.2. RATIONALE (4 points) =

Please describe the motivation for this project and why this project is needed. (9000 characters)
Final version:

Our Comenius project group consists of schools from Croatia, England, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The composition of our group is not accidental. Some of us have already collaborated in Comenius School Partnership Projects. __Teachers__ There is a strong wish in the participating schools to work on the international level. Schools that have already participated in the Comenius programme, the international collaboration became a style of their institution work. Our group has launched a Wiki to make everyone fully involved and speed up our collaboration. http://hiddentalents2012.wikispaces.com/. The educational systems are being reformed all over Europe, new subjects, new methods gain popularity. More and more focus is placed on the education of gifts and competences, the notion of learning and achievement is changing. Society needs time to accept changes and to make them part of the collective mind. Following the intentions for development, we found that there is need for change in the approach of teachers so that the required improvement in education can take place. One of the best ways to do this is by having personal experiences eg. carrying out international projects, project meetings and individual teacher exchanges. Participation in the Comenius projects enabled teachers to recognise their own achievements and inspired them to more effective work. Co-operation with schools from different countries should enrich teachers and students intercultural competence and cross-cultural dialogue. The project will help us combat stereotypes and prejudices. On the other hand, it will make it possible to promote our nationwide programs in partners’ countries. A DAY TOGETHER FOR EUROPE event will be organized in each school during the project meetings. To carry out the project, teachers will work according to their school curricula and simultaneously on the international level. Comenius project will give us a unique opportunity to work jointly through the exchange of materials, sharing our expertise, and arranging international contests. The process of gifted education appears in different forms and at different levels at the partner schools. For example, with differentiated class management during lessons or with extracurricular classes connected to a specific field of interest. In Slovakia and England the recognition and education of talented students gets greater emphasis at the institutional level with the use of specific teaching organizing methods. In Hungary there are Talent Spots, which the Hungarian partner would like to join. We would like to collect and compare the possibilities that our partners use in gifted education in and outside the lessons and the recognition of the special talents of children with learning difficulties. We would like to improve our own practice and learn from the experiences of our partners: in what fields, in what forms and in what time interval gifted education takes place, how talented children are recognized and how the work is planned in the different educational institutions. __Students__ During the preparatory meeting in England and on Skype conferences, we discussed the human environment of our schools. We agreed that a few groups of students, concerning their personal development, can be distinguished in our schools. There are many children dressed in designer clothes, cell phone in hand, who aimlessly roam the streets and seek game in which the encounter with cigarettes, alcohol and other vices. We also have classes for students with exceptional talents (in mathematics and science – Croatian, Hungarian school, in sports - Polish, Slovakian school). Apart from this, all schools have talented children, who consider themselves the best, but on the local level. So far they have had no opportunity to compete on the international level but now we have. On the other hand, in each school there is also a group of children from families with difficulties or students with disabilities who have fewer opportunities to be successful. The main motivation for the project came from the idea to enrich our students’ creativity and talents and improve their skills in: foreign languages, music, art, ICT, literature and drama fields as well as communication skills. Since the students are of different age, they will get an opportunity to help and tutor each others in different areas. We have determined target groups on three levels: 8-year-olds, 11-year-olds and 15-year-olds. The project HIDDEN TALENTS will provide them with a common goal to build up their self-expression and self-confidence. Broadening their education in different fields to express their talents plays an important role in motivating young people to study beyond their core school subjects. Focusing on improving competencies exclusively would widen the number of teachers involved in the project so the teachers' task will be to prevent possible students’ failure and also to discover hidden talents among them. Discovering success in non-academic areas, and being able to show these skills and talents to an international audience, may help young people to break through their barriers or start their own professional career. Ultimately, the impact on pupils will be the greatest legacy of the project. We would like to involve the parents and locals in the work as much as possible, we are sure that they will support our work enthusiastically. We rely on them not only during the project meetings but also during the different activities like exhibitions, shows and contests. Project The conference and the HIDDEN EUROPEAN TALENTS Wiki –made by older students, our final joint product - will be a place where all symbolic five talents will be presented. The wiki will contain: diaries, presentations, stories and poems written and illustrated by children and short films made during shows, events and mobilities. For instance, the children will design a mascot which will be their companion to show the school and everyday life in their country, customs and traditions and imaginary adventures. This will help to develop children’s imagination, invention and creativity and become successful despite of their physical, mental, social possibilities. Another task for the children is to write a circulating story. It can be done easily on the school level. However, doing it on the international level makes the whole enterprise much funnier, unpredictable and challenging. One of the stories will focus on educational systems – children will be able to show how they are taught so the story will be open to be continued in the future by countries not participating in this project. After the final mobility, every school intends to organize an exhibition to present the results of our project. All these factors will contribute to the positive development of lifelong learning. The HIDDEN TALENTS project aims at discovering children’s talents, developing them, inspiring them, challenging them through various tasks on the local and international levels. Although teachers, in general, make great progress with the students, they are not good enough at making it visible, they rarely present the results they achieve and, above all, their pedagogical methods to each other, the parents and their local people. We would like to improve our ability to present and visualize students’ performance and progress with the help of modern tools by using web surveys, computer programs and publish it on the Wiki. To keep the results of our work updated we would like to work on the wiki which can be a starting point for further collaboration. We have set up realistic goals that can be achieved through ICT and other modern gadgets. The collaboration on the international level should enhance teachers’ pride in being European teachers. If European teachers continue improving their knowledge through all their professional lives, their students will use this approach as a model. 8104 (-strikes ~ 7700)

Danuta, pl, 2nd Feb. = **2nd version** = Our Comenius project group consists of schools from Croatia, England, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain. The composition of our group is not accidental. Three of us have already collaborated in Comenius School Partnership Projects since 2007. __ teachers __ There is a strong wish in the participating schools to work on the international level. Participation in the Comenius projects enabled teachers to recognise their own achievements and inspired them to more effective work. The collaboration on the international level should enhance teachers’ pride in being European teachers. Co-operation with schools from different countries should enrich teachers and students intercultural competence and cross-cultural dialogue. The project will help us combat stereotypes and prejudices. On the other hand, it will make it possible to promote our nationwide programs in partners’ countries. To engage all staff in the Comenius activities, the project will be comprised of different fields: art, drama, languages, music and ITC. To carry out the project teachers will work according to their school curricula and simultaneously on the international level. Comenius project will give us a unique opportunity to work jointly through the exchange of materials, sharing our expertise, arranging international contests, and publishing the materials. Our project is a teacher/student commitment to develop meaningful activities related to key competences for lifelong learning. Teachers will also be facilitators for exchanging their knowledge and creative abilities with specific objectives and end-products in sight. We have set up realistic goals that can be achieved through ICT and other modern gadgets. For three schools that have already participated in the Comenius programme, the international collaboration became a style of their institution work. ‍‍‍Comenius became a turning point. The schools benefited not only in modern appliances and local prestige but the attitude of teachers changed profoundly. Having visited European schools during mobilities they compared the methods and shared their expertise and became familiar with social conditions. (So if they had to change the country, they could easily see themselves working in another countries.) ‍‍‍School coordinators who gained experience during the previous project will help new ones. As a result of the Comenius experience our group has launched a Wiki to make everyone fully involved and speed up our collaboration in setting up the project. http://hiddentalents2012.wikispaces.com/ __ Students __ On the preparatory stage of the project, during meeting in England and on Skype conferences, we discussed the human environment of our schools. We agreed that a few groups of students, concerning their personal development, can be distinguished in our schools. There are many children dressed in designer clothes, cell phone in hand, who aimlessly roam the streets and seek game in which the encounter with cigarettes, alcohol and other vices. We have also classes for students with exceptional talents (in mathematics and science – the Croatian school, in sports - the Polish school ). Apart from this, all schools have talented children, who consider themselves being the best but on the local level. So far they have had no opportunity to compete on the international level. On the other hand, in each school there is also a group of children from dysfunctional families or students with disabilities who have fewer opportunities to be successful. The main motivation for the project came from the idea to enrich our students’ creativity and talents and improve their skills in: foreign languages, music, art, ICT, literature and drama fields as well as communication skills. Since the students are of different age, we feel that they will get an opportunity to help and tutor each others in different areas. We intend to determine target groups on three levels: 8-year-olds, 11-year-olds and 15-year-olds. The project HIDDEN TALENT will provide them with a common goal to build up their self-expression and self-confidence. Broadening their education in different fields to express their talents plays an important role in motivating young people to study beyond their core school subjects. Focusing on improving competencies exclusively would widen the number of teachers involved in the project so the teachers' task will be to prevent possible students’ failure and also to discover HIDDEN TALENTS among them. Discovering success in non-academic areas, and being able to show these skills and talents to an international audience, may help young people to break through their barriers or even start their own professional career. Ultimately, the impact on pupils will be the greatest legacy of the project. __ Project __ Our children attend various schools in Europe. Nowadays more and more parents decide to change the country to settle down. Consequently, some children have to change not only school but also an educational system. Even if the opposite takes place, the school should prepare children for further education at universities in EU or for taking vocational courses. Teachers’ task is to inculcate the young with the lifelong style of learning from an early age. English is our language of communication. In this project the German language can be used as the second language of communication because it is the second/third language of most students/teachers, so the group will be more linguistically diverse. Among tasks for students there will be also the promotion of less used languages. E.g. Students will be writing a lyric of a song whereas certain words should be included. The HIDDEN TALENTS project aims at discovering children’s talents, developing them, inspiring them, challenging them through various tasks on the local and international levels. We would like to improve our ability to present and visualize students’ performance and progress with the help of modern tools by using web surveys, PowerPoint, and publish it on the Wiki. To keep the results of our work updated we would like to work on the wiki which will be a starting point for further collaboration. Made by older students the Wiki – our final, joint product - will be a place where all symbolic five talents will be presented. It will contain: diaries, presentations, stories and poems written by children and illustrated by them with drawings and short films made during shows, events and mobilities. For instance, the children will design a mascot which will be their companion to show the school and everyday life in their country, customs and traditions and imaginary adventures. This should help to develop children’s imagination, invention and creativity and become successful despite of their physical, mental, social possibilities. Another task for the children is to write a circulating story. It can be done easily on the school level. However, doing it on the international level makes the whole enterprise much more funnier, unpredictable and challenging. One of the stories will focus on educational systems – children will be able to show how they are taught so the story will be open to be continued in the future by countries not participating in this project. After the final mobility, every school intends to organize an exhibition to present the results of our project. All these factors will contribute to the positive development of lifelong learning. If European teachers continue improving their knowledge through all their professional lives, their students will model such an approach. **~[7,500]**