Turkey

The first project meeting was held in Tuzla, Istanbul on November 26-30, 2019.

It was the first time for the participating teams from Lithuania, Estonia, Portugal, Turkey and Romania to meet each other. Besides, it became evident that most of us hadn’t been involved in any Erasmus+ projects. So, there was quite a lot of initial concern.

The immediate goals of the meeting were, first of all, getting to know all the partners as well as getting a better idea of the participating schools and their environment, putting a special focus on the issues concerning tolerance and discrimination in these areas. We also discussed the general aim of the project focussing on individual tasks and areas of responsibility. Since Mobility Tool appeared to be a completely new platform for the majority of participants, a workshop for getting to know it better was held. There was a specialist invited who explained our tasks concerning Mobility Tool and how to complete them, everything from logging on to the final report. As a result, we came out of the mobility with a much better and clearer understanding of what is expected from each of the partners.

In addition to all that, it was a highly valuable team building time. All the partners felt that although we came to Turkey as separate teams, we left as one unified group working towards the same goal. On our trip to Istanbul we saw Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar; besides, we also took a boat trip on the Bosphorus. We were also given an opportunity to meet with the educational director and also the assistant mayor of Tuzla, Istanbul. This gave us a good insight into the educational system of Turkey and also how the city has managed to deal with the vastly high numbers of refugees and other immigrants – Istanbul and especially Tuzla has done a lot to integrate all immigrants into the society so there is much to be learned from them.

Although it was a meeting without students, it was still integrated with the school’s normal activities. On our arrival, the school gave the visitors a welcoming concert and the partners gave presentations about their schools to the students. We also got an opportunity to visit some lessons to observe the teaching methods used in Turkey; there was regular interaction between the students and guests.