Empathy For Understanding And Tolerance for Others’ Mistakes

PROJECT SUMMARY KA-229

The Project “Empathy For Understanding And Tolerance for Others’ Mistakes” involves 5 schools from 5 European

countries: SI, TR, MK, IT, RO. According to the SWOT analysis done by each partner in their institution, the partners

identified a series of common needs that lead to the decision to implement a project about tolerance. Violence,

aggression, intolerance, racism, ethnic discrimination are tendencies that can be observed in the behavior of the students

from the partner countries.

The project objectives are:

-to develop civic competences and increase self-esteem of 96 students from 5 EU countries

-to facilitate understanding the concepts “tolerance” and “mutual understanding” at a personal level and in the European

context

-to equip participants with practical examples for acting as civic-minded citizens

-to raise awareness about diversity and cultural identities promoting social cohesion

-to boost the feeling of belonging to the EU community

In accordance with the Article 2 of the Treaty on the European Union, we envisage that this international cooperation will

prepare our students for living in a multicultural society being aware of the EU values, appreciating diversity. Students will

interiorize tolerance and mutual understanding as active civic attitudes. For reaching the overall aim of broadening the

civic mindedness emphasizing the importance of tolerance and mutual understanding impact in daily life, we decided to

use an innovative approach.

To reach the project objectives an innovative approach will be used. Combining the advantages of using ICT in education

with the Five Factor Model theory will tackle the 5 personality dimensions:

-openness to experience: students will be encouraged to express their emotions and ideas using Art.

They will create together the movie “Tolerance through my eyes”, scenarios for the Forum theater, digital photos, will

prepare artistic moments for the Festival of tolerance and mutual understanding.

-extraversion: team building activities, sports competitions and board games are going to stimulate students’

assertiveness, sociability and personality.

-conscientiousness: students are taught self-discipline, planning and working towards goals

-agreeableness: working in international teams and creating products together will develop students’ cooperation skills.

The tangible products they will create together are flashcards about the topic, the dictionary of the project, handmade

bookmarks and thematic puzzles.

-neuroticism: students will experience (un)pleasant emotions, anger, depression, anxiety and vulnerability during the

Forum theater/ theater activity. They will become aware of how intolerance is perceived by others, develop empathy and

they will see how important is to be an active citizen.

The use of ICT during the activities, supported by internal cognitive aspects of learning will lead to innovative outcomes

results tackling learning abilities.

The activities are designed to develop the tolerance, mutual understanding, intercultural competences, social and civic

spirit. The international cooperation will broaden the cross-cultural knowledge and understanding about the countries,

cultures and values strengthening the feeling of belonging to a united Europe.

A number of 24 students from every partner (aged between 12 and 14 years old) will attend the transnational meetings.

Students will be selected before the mobilities, using transparent criteria decided by each project partner taken into

consideration: English skills, ICT skills, motivation and involvement in the school-based activities. A number of 44

teachers will be directly involved in the project mobilities, but teams will be formed at the school level to facilitate a better

implementation of the project. Approximately 2700 students and 120 teachers/adults will indirectly be involved in the

project. Other participants who will enjoy the benefits offered by this Erasmus+ project are the administrative staff,

students’ families, pedagogical staff, educational advisors, policy makers and representatives of the local authorities.

The tangible products of the project are an audio dictionary, photography exhibition, calendar of the project.

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movie, e-book, flashcards, thematic puzzles, handmade bookmarks, project webpages, project logo, flyers, DVD of the

project, brochure.

The intangible results are the development of life skills, key competences, cultural horizon, intercultural understanding,

team working skills and knowledge about the topic.

The results will be made available on the project website. The dissemination plan will help to reach a large audience and

make an impact at local, regional, national and international levels.