eTwinning promotes school collaboration in Europe by providing teachers working in the schools from the European participating countries a collaborative platform, the opportunity to start new projects and information exchange, ”a space where they can feel that they belong to the most exciting educational community in Europe”.
eTwinning projects are online collaborative projects, having web tools as support, ensuring collaboration and real interaction between partners, guaranteeing the achievement of goals of the project.
The eTwinning project ”Land of Ambrozia” was designed as a European pupils’ trip to learn about them and their country, using the food theme as a central theme. The members of this project were: France, Poland, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Slovakia, Italy, Romania, Lithuania and the United Kingdom. This project has given everyone the opportunity to deepen the field of health education, to think of attractive methods and tools to provide pupils and parents with essential information for adopting a healthy lifestyle.
Working in an international team, the health education field has gained a European connotation, and, this way, it has become clear to all actors involved in the project that school and local authorities play an important role in promoting health among the population.
The project map included the following activities: Let’s say who we are – schools presentation, Tell me what you eat …: – sending a package of specific Romanian food to an European partner, What’s in the menú today? – sweet recepies What science tells us about food- activities within the Field of Science, Food Art – Children’s products in the artistic and plastic activities, Food Games-sports games, Food products and literature activities within the Language and Communication Domain.
In order to achieve the proposed activities, we have created situations in which children work both individually and in pairs, in smaller and larger groups, in order to gain a wider perspective by sharing their knowledge, ideas and opinions. The children’s parents were involved in the activities, supporting us both in procuring the necessary materials and in manufacturing them during practical activities.
What we can say is that we, teachers, starting from the idea that health is our most valuable asset, can contribute to a better future for our children by giving health education its deserved place among the educational activities in the Romanian educational system.
In the international project „CHRISTMAS AROUND EUROPE” we shared Christmas traditions with six countries from Europe. We collaborated in setting up a logo, traditional songs, Christmas crafts and making greeting cards with our partners from Spain, Italy, Romania, Turkey, Poland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
In order to achieve the proposed activities, we have created situations in which children work both individually and in pairs, in smaller and larger groups, in order to gain a wider perspective by sharing their knowledge, ideas and opinions.
In the elaboration of the „Christmas crafts” the children’s parents were involved in the activities, supporting us both in procuring the necessary materials and in manufacturing them during practical activities. All the activities and materials of the project were viewed by the children, giving them the opportunity to listen to carols from other countries, to visualise the works of the partners: drawings, collages, greeting cards, Christmas crafts.
Regarding the impact on children’s activity, I emphasise that the children are the direct beneficiaries of these didactic experiences, I managed to sensitise them, to make them feel more and more attracted to the world of knowledge, to acquire new values such as: respect for national and European values, the consciousness of solidarity and, in the long term, to promote the values of the cultural, national and European diversity.
By participating in these projects we had the opportunity to discover new educational systems, new socio-cultural backgrounds, and to learn new methods and techniques for improving the quality of the Romanian educational system. Certainly, my participation in this project contributed to the development of the European dimension of the kindergarten, as the institution is already promoting European values.
Bibliography:
• *** (2008). Curriculum pentru învăţământul preşcolar. Bucureşti: Didactica Publishing House.