In autumn 2021 the BG/BRG Judenburg launched an Erasmus+ initiative using the slogan “Let’s access Europe!”. Since then an extremely wide range of Erasmus+ activities have been carried out. The school partners (students, teachers, staff) have not only welcomed visitors from all over Europe but have also integrated the European spirit in class. Many of them have even participated in students’ exchanges and teachers’ trainings in a wide number of European countries.
In autumn 2022 the BG/BRG Judenburg continues its EU-initiative and has started the following Erasmus+ projects, mobilities and activities related to Europe.
To read more about Erasmus+ at the BG/BRG Judenburg: https://sites.google.com/view/erasmus-bgbrg-judenburg/home?authuser=1
Projectstart 1: Deplastify the planet – Teachers’ meeting
Mag.a Ilse Prenn and Mag.a Eva Tatschl participated from the 8th – 14th October 2022 in the first official teachers’ meeting related to the Erasmus+ project “Deplastify the planet”
The „Deplastify the Planet“ project is an Erasmus+ KA220 school cooperation conducted by the project coordinator school Sint-Gummaruscollege from Belgium and 4 partner schools from Spain, Portugal, Austria and Croatia.
This cooperation was founded because all partners have experienced limitations in the area of environmental skills and awareness among teachers and students. The partners have observed a lack of motivation and willpower to create a green school and an eco-friendly attitude among stakeholders at school. The main priority this project faces, is to protect environment and fight against climate change in order to reduce the use of plastic. The partners will create measurements on how to develop an eco-friendly school and share and collect experiences and effective methods on how to protect the environment and reduce plastic waste. This project will design a structured methodology to develop new approaches in the field of environmental education and a collection of best practices for schools.
The first main target group of this project will be students aged 12-15, who will be affected by the plastic waste problem in the future. The second target group are teachers with different profiles in order to cover as many project fields as possible to carry out EU activities related to the objectives of the project. Furthermore, the partners also invite a wide range of other stakeholders (parents, staff, local/regional/national institutions, politicians, local communities and NGO) to participate in the implementation of this project. The main language of this project will be English.
Facebook: Deplastify the planet
Instagram: #deplastifytheplanet
Students’ Exchange in Italy – Art for the Planet
After the BG/BRG Judenburg had welcomed a group of 20 Italian students in May 2022 in Judenburg 12 Austrian students travelled to Guissano/Italy to participate in a students’ exchange with the partnerschool „Liceo Artistico Statale Amadeo Modigliani“
The exchange was framed by an extensive program comprising many social, cultural, sports activities where students experienced school life in Italy. They did not only improve their social and cultural skills but also their language and artistic skills. They built a lamp with recycling material and created a mural. They discussed how to reduce plastic waste and trash in general and they talked about solutions how to reduce or avoid trash in daily life. Students also joined a theatre project called “Shakespeare cut into pieces for Erasmus”
This exchange was organised by Mag.a Andreea Voit and Mag. Michael Kurzemann.
Teachers’ Meeting in Pilsen
In the last year, the BG/BRG Judenburg joined en EU-project “DiaLog” with the department for German as second language at the University of Graz, organised by Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. phil. Sabine Schmölzer-Eibinger and Mag. phil. Victoria Reinsperger. This project also involves two other EU countries (Czech Republic and The Netherlands).
During this scientific project, secondary school students all over Styria, the Czech Republic and The Netherlands discussed controversial topics related to sustainability and environment and learned how to improve their language and discussion skills.
As a second step, two teachers of the BG/BRG Judenburg (Mag.a Ulrike Sölkner and Mag.a Michaela Wallner Stolz) participated from the 13th-16th October 2022 in a teachers’ meeting in Pilsen/ where they discussed the results of the project and how to implement teaching material from this project in regular classes.
https://dialog.uni-graz.at/de/
Students’ Exchange in Austria – Individual long-term students’ exchange Johanna Dohnal – Simone Veil
For several years the BG/BRG Judenburg has been participating in a cooperation with the Styrian education directorate (Mag.a Maria Pichlbauer). Three students of the BG/BRG Judenburg stayed in September 2022 with host families in France and attended school with their exchange students.
Now it is time for the French students to visit the BG/BRG Judenburg. The French students are accommodated by three Austrian host families. They are accompanied by Jasmin Poier and Maxiliane Setznagel (7a) and Andreas Arlitzer (8a). The French students will take part in daily school life and integrated in different classes and subjects.
Projectstart 2: Jean Monet Project – Jigsaw Europe
This initiative allows the school to create a set of 9 modules and learning sessions in order to make the European Union subjects more attractive and they can be tailored to the school’s needs and the students demands for more interesting, engaging and attractive EU based classes. This project will help students to strengthen their sense of belonging to the EU and to understand the mechanism, values and policies of the EU and enlarge students EU literacy.
This learning initiative will foster the introduction of EU subjects at the BG/BRG Judenburg and will strengthen the European identity, EU literacy and active citizenship not only among students but also teachers and other stakeholders at school.
This project fosters up-to-date information on EU, innovative teaching and communicative learning scenarios, invitations and discussions with EU experts and representatives, the use of digital, virtual, non-teacher-centred and students’ focused approaches. These methods go along with the objective of this JM initiative to empower the school and teachers with new professional teaching material and methods and will make EU topics more attractive to students.
Additionally, the use of authentic and digital teaching material offered by EU institutions and adjusted to the needs and ages of students from 14-18 in this project will also improve the learning outcome on EU matters. Furthermore, it will strengthen EU literacy in school. The participation in a specially for students designed course combined with the opportunity to participate in E+ mobilities and visits of the EU institutions in Vienna and Brussels will enhance the interest in the EU. The specific knowledge provided in courses funded by this JM learning initiative will also enhance the participation of students in the democratic process becoming an active political EU citizen.
This project will be lead and organised by Mag. Bernd Fiechtl and Mag.a Ilse Prenn in cooperation with Mag. Johannes Thaler, Mag.a Ulrike Schlacher and Mag.a Eva-Maria Wilding.
Projectstart 3: Let’s create a sustainable Europe together! (France)
In order to provide students who learn French in the lower grades with language experience in France, the EU-coordinator Mag. Bernd Fiechtl got in contact with the school “Collège Pierre Dubois” in Laval/France.
Together with the French teacher Mag. Timo Pichler BA , 22 students of the BG/BRG Judenburg carry out the “Let’s create a sustainable Europe together” project to enrich their international openness by offering participants the opportunity to communicate in English and French to discover a country and to physically meet young Europeans with whom they will be able to forge privileged links before, during and after the mobility.
Awareness of European values will be an important part of the project. Students will also improve their digital skills through digital exchanges and activities. The topic of sustainable development will be unifying and will enlighten our young citizens on the essential issues of the environment. This theme is among the major concerns of the two schools and the Erasmus+ project will allow to place the project topics at the heart of both schools.
The participants will progress in their mastery of English by getting involved in a collective and unifying project which will enable them to discover their European identity concretely, to share its values with young Europeans and to reflect with them on a major issue for the EU, sustainable development.
In addition to progressing in their digital skills thanks to the activities included in our project, they will deploy transversal skills (knowing, getting information, achieving, communicating, getting involved, living together) and will strengthen those in the field of personal development and citizenship (critical ability, reflection, discernment, commitment, initiatives, personal expression, respect for others, sense of collective life). The project coordinators want as many students as possible to have access to an exchange to arouse in them the desire to learn from others.
Projectstart 4: Create a sustainable Europe!
The BG/BRG Judenburg has been cooperating with the principal Mr. Jaime Sainz and the teacher Ines Lados from the college “Abad Sola” in Ganìa for almost a decade now. Both schools are accredited for the new Erasmus+ programme (2021-2022) and decided after successfully finishing three Erasmus+ project to launch another project on how to live a sustainable life.
Participants of this project will be students from the lower grades aged 12-14. In regular classes students from both countries will discuss and treat different topics related how to lead a sustainable life. They will teat topics like food, consumerism, reduction of waste and plastic trash etc.
The project will comprise online meetings and digital learning events where students meet and get to know each other. During these meetings they will also carry out activities related to sustainability.
In a first step they will write in their English classes self-descriptions and prepare presentations of the school and Austria using audio and video programmes. In the following step they Austrian and Spanish students will be matched according to their self-presentations and in November 2022 they will meet the first time online. After that, students will get in contact with each other and start communicating independently. More activities working the project topics will be carried out until February 2023.
Between February 2023 and May 2023 there will be two students exchanges in Austria and one exchange in Gandìa Spain. During these exchanges, students will stay with host families and will be integrated in daily school activities. Additionally the exchange will be framed by different ice-breaking, sports, cultural, out-door, social and language activities.
This project will be coordinated by Mag. Bernd Fiechtl / Mag.a llse Prenn and Mag.a Susanne Stadler.
Mobilities for the Bildungsdirektion Obersteiermark West in Sweden
As the BG/BRG Judenburg has become an expert for Erasmus+ activities during the last 15 years the Erasmus+ coordinators Mag. Bernd Fiechtl and Mag.a Ilse Prenn supported by the principle Mag.a Ursula Schriefl launched a cooperation between the local education directorate represented by head of department Roman Scheuerer.
Aim of this cooperation is to support principles from the two Styrian districts Murau and Murtal to join job-shadowing activities and trainings in European countries in order to support school development in the Murtal region.
The main topics of this job-shadowing will be:
19 principles of different types of schools and 3 representatives of the education directorate Styria will travel in December 2022 to Sweden to carry out a job-shadowing procedure at the Fridaskolan in Vänersborg and Gothenborg, represented by Karin Helmerson. This project will be funded by the Eramsus+ accreditation of the Styrian education directorate, represented by Mag.a Maria Pichlbauer.
During six days the participants will have the opportunity to visit two school campuses which combine crèches, elementary and secondary schools. In group meetings with Swedish principals, teachers and scientists they will not only get essential input about the Swedish school system, the organisation and the management of daily school life, methodological and didactic approaches but they will also experience cultural and social life in Sweden.
Against Racisme: Theatreplay – Magda Toffler: Versuch über das Schweigen (2022)
Silence envelops many a family story. The survivors create a maximum distance between themselves and the experiences of the past. In his new play, director and author Boris Nikitin takes up the form of witnessing or “coming out” in a solo format that he has developed in parallel to his major stage productions that challenge the conventions of documentary theatre. He deals with his own previously hidden family history – a result of the 20th century and its repressions.
On Friday 14th October 20 students from the classes 6abc and 7a participated in the theatre play by Magda Toffler. They were accompanied by their teachers Mag.a Eva Maria Wilding and Mag.a Susanne Stadler.
The participation in this cultural event was made possible by the directorate of the Styrian school authorities represented by Mag.a Maria Pichlbauer in cooperation with the “Steirischer Herbst” represented by Lena Ricnik, coordinator herbst Education.
The teachers and students from the BG/BRG Judenburg thank the organisers for this great opportunity to experience important aspects of racism and prejudices which still affect society today.
Prof. Mag. Bernd Fiechtl