The partners in the project Inspire me! Motivate me! have come together as they are all committed to a view of learning as an active and progressive path with a need for new and innovative strategies to be tried and tested to improve and inspire our pupils learning of ICT and the basic skills in both numeracy and literacy.
The aim of the project is to combine collaboration of expertise from around Europe with the use of ICT to develop our pupils into Global Citizens who are open-minded, critical thinkers who are not afraid of the challenges which they face in the 21st century, instead they face them with confidence. We aim to develop an open and innovative delivery of education in our schools for pupils between the ages of 3 – 11 year, which is embedded in the digital era. Our priority will be sharing and developing a program that addresses under-achievement in the basic skills of mathematics and literacy through more effective, innovative teaching methods which we will develop together.
There are a variety of activities planned for the three years, but the main activities will ensure the following outcomes.
Year 1 - Problem solving - By the end of the first year we will develop our pupils as independent mathematicians with strong problem-solving skills as we know how important problem-solving skills are for 21st century life and work. An end product will be a book on problem solving techniques to use, examples of problem solving questions and posters to help pupils solve problems independently.
Year 2 - Reading - During year 2 we will tackle developing basic skills in reading. Reading is a basic skill that is essential for our pupils to learn to live and work effectively in the 21st century. They need to be independent readers who identify: why they are reading; what they want to get out of the material, and how thoroughly they need to understand it. The end product will be a collection of the pupils favourite short stories from each country.
Year 3 – Oracy – develping critical and open thinkers - We will use books to discuss issues and develop their roles as active and thoughtful global citizens. This will ensure that pupils develop to be critical thinkers through being taught how to create their own philosophical questions which they then explore together to open their minds so they can live interdependently in the 21st century and face any obstacles or challenges thrown at them in life by having an open mind and ability to discuss with appropriate vocabulary. This will allow pupils an opportunity to create their own philosophical story to promote thinking and discussion based on The Unicef Children's Right's Charter. The final product will include a published ibook of stories.
The project will have a great impact not only on professional development our own schools, but also on local schools in the surrounding area and local authorities as we will share the practices with them. It will raise the quality of teaching and learning and impact on the future of our pupils by raising standards of attainment in basic skills as well as developing them as ethical and informed young Global Citizens.
The long term benefits will be far reaching! The opportunities that our pupils will have faced will be invaluable to supporting them to become global citizens who realize their roles and responsibilities. It will also allow us to work collaboratively on an European level, becoming much more knowledgeable practitioners to impact on our pupils learning. The resources created and shared will be available to use and download for free on a hub, website and blogs and will therefore have impacted education.
About our Project
