The 24 months’ “Journey to the 21st Century with Stories in My Suitcase” project has been developed in the coordination of Malta and partnership of Italy, Turkey, Germany and Finland. In this world that is tied globally and digitally, all students need new skills and knowledge to be successful from the cradle till their career. Researches have showed the contribution of the story narration method that brings the 21st century skills into together. Stories teach cultural values, encourage students’ imagination, improve their concentration, instill the love of reading and imaginatively writing to them, develop their language skills such as vocabulary knowledge, understanding, ranking and recalling. The project will use the story narration technique.
Our objectives are: To prepare students for the next education as the ones who are curious, intellectual, cultured, know their own culture well, respect differences, high readers, have basic skills of using ICT and communication in foreign language, to guide them to use all skills that they gain for all along lifetime and develop them. Thus; to provoke them to learn and have the 21st century skills that they need in order to be successful in their work and life in the future. To instill them the love of reading and writing creatively. To help students understand different cultures and their own cultures better by the way of stories and participating different events actively, to create cultural consciousness, to arouse wonder about other cultures and to encourage them to make search. To develop students’ skills of listening to, understanding, reading, writing, narration and presentation in language with the help of mutual communication, virtual and common activities. To examine the best practices of cultural stories, digital stories and narration techniques in partner schools of EU level, share information, and combine these experiences in more effective teaching methods.4 students and 2 teachers from each partner school will join in each LTTA. Total number of the participants will be 120.The students at 9-12 ages will participate in the project. The project will go on in parallel with the eTwinning project in accordance with 24 months’ work schedule. We’ll often use the techniques such as story-based methods, cooperative learning, making presentation, drama, and using technological devices in the activities. Mainly activities are: introduction presentations, opening meetings, online student/teacher interviews, creating digital stories, exchange of best practices on story-based courses between partner schools, animation of the stories in sketch and drama style, preparing story map, workshops, international digital stories contest, preparing stories with animation, Twin Space sharings. The participants learn about digital tools that they can use for the digital story narration activities and they prepare stories with these tools. Cooperation and participation in common activities are opportunities to know about different cultures and develop understanding.
Participants will learn about each other’s cultures. Storytelling for students ensures that they are also keen to listen and understand. This also enhances creativity, making them more imaginative and open to ideas and free thinking. Teachers realize the richness of story-based learning/teaching methods and they will try them in their lives. Open-ended stories arouse curiosity and motivate to go on learning. The partnership provokes the participants to create new cooperations in EU level. The students make an effort to develop their ICT tolls skills and use them in different areas along lifetime. They’ll gain better understanding, respect, discretion and more positive point of view for the people different lands, races, when they listen to or tell the stories from other cultures. In addition; their vocabulary knowledge and memorizing will increase, motivation and learning speed will develop. Sharing good practices and cooperation will enter the curriculum as more effective methods of storytelling model. Thus they’ll be individuals whose basic skills are strong and who are qualified in work life and life itself. Teachers will combine best practices with the ones in EU level and as a result they’ll lead to develop pragmatic and effective model of the 21st century teaching-learning.
When we experience new learning practices and teaching methods of the personnel, learn good practices of abroad, have professional practical skills, cooperate with partner schools in EU level and create strong ties with teachers, our institutions will become international, the quality of education will increase with the personnel who are authorised and whose professional capacity is high. Our institutions will form some other new cooperations in local, national or international level in order to increase their capacity also at the end of the project.
