Address: Mezdra, 32 G. Dimitrov Str.

Country: Bulgaria

 School website

Project: CVS - Children's Voices for a new human Space
 

Working language during the project:

• English
   

Themes of the Council of Europe campaign “FREE to SPEAK, SAFE to LEARN - Democratic Schools for All” covered:

• Making children’s and students’ voices heard
• Preventing violence and bullying
• Tackling discrimination
• Improving well-being at school
   

Competences from the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (CDC) addressed and where / how they were integrated:

• Valuing cultural diversity
  The project is able to provide materials, methods (educational curricula) and IT tools (the mobile App) to support teachers in dealing with cultural diversity in the classroom and in adopting new collaborative and innovative practices. This strengthens the professional profile of teachers who are empowered to deliver higher quality teaching and increase their leadership potential.
• Knowledge and critical understanding of the world: politics, law, human rights, culture, cultures, religions, history, media, economies, environment, sustainability
  The current project addresses the first priority (social inclusion) by envisaging a number of actions aimed at fostering democratic and intercultural competences of pupils and teachers in the primary school context. These competences are intended as the basic facets of a broader “culture of social inclusion”. They are promoted mainly through the development of training courses for teachers and an educational curriculum for pupils. Through these tools, the project also aims to improve the access and participation of disadvantaged pupils, such as pupils with a migrant background, in their living school contexts.
• Co-operation skills
  The project also promotes innovative methods and pedagogies, by developing learning materials and tools based on the use of IT. Specifically, a mobile App, related to the project website, will be developed for assisting the teachers in implementing the mentioned curriculum. The App will also serve as a control and supervision tool for teachers’ actions. In so doing, the project addresses the second priority (open and innovative education practices embedded in the digital era).

Target group age range:

• 5-11

Level of education:

• Primary education

Short description of the project:

“Children's Voices for a new human Space” is a collaborative project between 3 universities, 5 schools, 1 non-governmental organization and 1 software house, funded under the Erasmus+ programme. Ten organizations from all over Europe work together for three years in order to foster a culture of democracy in the primary school context.

We aim to:

- foster democratic and intercultural competences of pupils and teachers in the primary school context;

- improve access to and participation of disadvantaged pupils, such as pupils with a migrant background, in their living school contexts through democratic and intercultural competences;

- promote innovative methods and pedagogies by developing learning materials and tools based on the use of IT;

- provide materials, methods (educational curricula) and IT tools (the mobile App) to support teachers in dealing with cultural diversity in the classroom and in adopting new collaborative and innovative practices.

Aims/objectives

• To enhance teachers’ access to democratic and intercultural (DI) education
• To increase teachers’ knowledge about DI education
• To equip teachers with tools and methods to promote and assess pupils’ DI competences
• To foster the development of pupils’ DI competences
• To empower pupils, offering them the opportunity to participate effectively in public life and decision- making processes, and make their voices heard
• To promote the involvement of pupils with a migrant background
   

Expected results/outcomes

•  4 Intellectual Outputs:
  CVS Training Course for teachers
  CVS Curriculum for children
  CVS Supervision App for teachers
  O4 CVS Study
• 3 Learning & Training Activities:
  C1 Joint staff training event for teachers (March 2019, Mezdra, Bulgaria)
  C2 Joint staff training event for teachers (September 2019, Bagheria, Italy)
  C3 short-term exchange of group of pupils (May 2021, Bergen, Norway)
• 6 Multiplier events
  E1-E5 Events at local level (October 2020, one for each school)
  E6 Event at transnational level (May 2021, Bergen, Norway
   

Changes

Teachers

At the end of the project the teachers directly involved will be:

- aware of the more recent approaches in the field of DI education;

- equipped with DI skills;

- equipped with renewed social inclusion skills;

- able to use renewed pedagogical methods and practices for promoting DI competences in their daily work;

- able to employ appropriate techniques for the assessment of pupils’ DI competences;

- equipped with new digital competences;

- able to show a strengthened profile of their profession (including higher quality teaching, leadership skills, openness to teaching exchanges and new ideas);

- able to work according to a multidisciplinary and a European collaborative perspective;

Pupils

At the end of the project the directly involved pupils will be able:

- to display DI competences;

- to effectively participate in their school decision-making processes;

- to be more autonomous, responsible and self-confident;

- to be understanding, tolerant and respectful for other people;

- to consider the cultural diversity as a resource in their daily life;

- to be equipped with new social inclusion skills;

- to be aware about their talents and abilities;

- to be equipped with knowledge and skills that will help them to become active and responsible decision-makers for their countries

Challenges you faced

The implementation of the project is full of additional activities, which are taking place with the everyday work of the teacher and students at the school. Teachers and students do not have enough time to complete some of the planned activities. 

Time-frame of the project:

• 36 months, 01-09-2018-31-08-2021

Council of Europe materials on citizenship and human rights education used while preparing or implementing your practice:

• Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture
• Compasito
• Mirrors