Our school:

typical Greek school traditional models of education in its daily instructive practice.

Past few years:

efforts to modernize these instructive methods.

contemporary problems that our school faces:the existence of many students:• of different cultural origin • with learning problems and• difficulties in social adaptation The solution could be the adoption of modern pedagogic patterns

• Such a chance of testing and

collecting experience was given

to us by realizing

this particular program.

• choosing the students who would work for this.

• We decided to select this class, because, to a great extent:

• it had all the characteristics that interested us, that is:

• children who enjoyed less acceptance among their peers for the above mentioned reasons.

• We tried to apply:

principles of cooperative ,

research and

cross-curricular learning

to a multicultural group

Certain problems we faced concerning practical issues:

• we had to plan our sessions in a way that wouldn’t interfere with the school obligations and the heavy timetable.

• We also had to convince the children for the usefulness or even for the charm of the project.

• An additional problem we had to face was the poor ability of students to communicate in a satisfactory way in English.

The most difficult part was to face the unwillingness of children :

1.the first contact with the Spanish students

2.they were strongly motivated by the chance to take part in the trip to Spain

.

3. The discussions and explanations that followed concerning the objective of the project and the way of work resolved their hesitations

• we made a really hard planning

• we fixed specific hours and days of meeting which we tried to observe precisely.

•The students proved to be quite reliable to this and we were very glad to see them working eagerly.

they learned that it is important to manage their time correctly, because if this didn’t happen the consequences concerned the whole progress of the work and each one of them felt responsible for that.

In this way they learned that it is important to manage their time correctly, because if this didn’t happen the consequences concerned the whole progress of the work and each one of them felt responsible for that

They had extra lessons on computer science and extended their knowledge in programming and digitation.

The English language problem was partially faced by having English lessons after school.

Through the process the students showed skills that they had never shown before in the conventional classroom.

They looked, more intelligent, more creative, more responsible, they displayed initiative, they resolved problems and they developed relationships and ability of speech.

Our students exceeded the limits of their individual thought and they developed action, which would be impossible outside the frame of the team. They also developed skills of communication and collaboration.

Before the project there were differences between them that often got in the way of the lessons.

They had difficulties in accepting the diversity of each other and this made their collaboration troubled.

•Through the work for the project they managed to push these stereotypes aside,

•they made mutual compromise and

• they accepted the concept of human diversity.

This is a most important heritage for their social behavior in future life.

Competition is one of the characteristics of our educational system.

In our case we believe that the children realized that in our society collaboration is more efficient than competition.

the students developed critical thinking and a sense of evaluation, as, for example, in the choice of the books.

They had to look for books of particular characteristics and also to solve problems that resulted from this choice.

This process of problem solving led them to obtaining knowledge, not theoretically from the schoolteacher but as an aspect of real life.

It was the need to resolve the problem, to answer the question, in order to complete the work. Therefore, learning and knowledge came as an experienced practice.

cross - curricular learning

the students acquired knowledge and skills in computer science, in English, in ancient Greek texts (historical and tragedies), in Geography, Law, History and our traditional culture.

They also learned about the past Greek educational system and they had the possibility of comparison.

Every meeting on the program was an occasion for our students to develop the ability to speak.

Released from the discipline of the classroom, they practiced their linguistic skills and they communicated effectively in their own language.

Relations that the students developed with their teachers. The teacher was no more the unique source and the authority of knowledge, thus being an agent of pressure, and he/she became the collaborator with whom they work in order to achieve a goal.

the children had the opportunity to come in contact with the cultures of our partners,

to learn about other societies, customs, different educational systems and thus to accept the value of all cultures.

They also learned that there are several ways of facing problems, and different ways of work.

The psychological impact that these methods of work had on the students.

Before the project, these children were faced as “bad” and “failed” students and they had poor self-esteem.

The cooperative work strengthened their self confidence and self esteem as they saw that their work gave positive results and they themselves were creative and capable of accomplishing the needs of the project

The school itself has changed the way of thinking about these students, seeing that they managed to carry out this work and as a result they gained the trip abroad.

In conclusion:

These programs, at least for our school, can function as a different version of education,

free from strict school curriculum and old- fashioned teaching methods

They can make the children

regain their lost interest for school

and feel happier