Mobility in Kielce

28th of January to 3rd of February 2019

Presentation of national work

- presentations of national schools: national groups present videos about their schools showing special features like the building, the lessons, the environment etc. A group of Polish students presented Kielce and Swietokrzyskie region in a PowerPointPresentation

- presentation of project logos: PowerPointPresentation of 13 logos that national teachers handed in for the competition; 8 votes per national team to choose the winning logo; winning ceremony with cup for French pupil who was not present in Poland

International work during the meeting

- ice-breaker game to get to know common characteristics of participating pupils and have fun

- tree of expectation: pupils handed in their expectations on a slip of paper at the beginning of the exchange; evaluation at the end to see if expectations were met

- theatre/dance performance: The topic of the performance was not given and the actors didn´t speak at all so pupils had a lively discussion about it afterwards. Guesses about the topic were: exclusion, peer pressure, pain, solitude etc.

- escape rooms: small groups of international students had to solve tasks about foreign cultural knowledge to be able to escape the room (classroom); tasks were prepared by a group of Polish students.

- comic creation: in international groups of 2-4 persons groups created comics about common European experiences with the help of one of two Internet programmes (www.pixton.com, www.makebeliefscomix.com ); presentation of the comics to the whole group via projector

- life lessons: visiting the mayor of Kielce, Bogdan Wenta, who was a professional handball player and handball coach in Spain and Germany as well as a member of the European Parliament. Students asked questions about his experiences while playing in Spain and Germany and while being a trainer in Poland, about the importance of language learning, about the power of the European Parliament, about cultural differences, about the advantages and disadvantages that the life abroad he had etc.

Visits

- Kielce and Świętokrzyskie region: Kielce city center, Kielce Natural Rock Reserve Kadzielnia, English guided tour of Ethnographic Park in Tokarnia and at Checiny Royal Castle

- Krakow: visit of Jewish ghetto, guided visit of Apteka Pod Orłem of Tadeusz Pankiewicz who was hiding Jews when they were persecuted, UNESCO cultural heritage city center

- Ausschwitz, Birkenau: guided 3.5 hour tour of the concentration camps

Participants in the activities: 23 foreign pupils and 26 Polish partners, 9 foreign teachers and Polish teachers (e.g. organizing team, headmistress), teacher-pupil band "Shaken Organs”, "Ecce Homo" theatre group, mayor of Kielce Bogdan Wenta

Social aspect

Pupils got more information about the Polish culture, they realized similarities and differences between the participants from different countries and therefore created a European identity without losing their national feeling

Culture

Migratrion

Pupils realized common European experiences in private migrations, they realized through the international experiences of the mayor that life and attitude changes if you gain international experiences and that each person has the power to create its own personality and opinions and that prejudices and stereotypes can be avoided.

Pupils were informed about forced migration of Jews in WWII and were personally concerned. They realized how lucky they are to live in a peaceful Europe. They saw past connections between countries (e.g. German Jews in Poland, Italian and Hungarian royals in Poland)

IT Knowledge

Pupils got to know new IT programmes for comic creation which they can use at school or in their private life.

Burnout

Polish organizing team worked together and shared tasks, foreign teachers helped whenever they could, being faced up with new challenges and carrying through all tasks successfully as a team increased teachers’ competence and self-esteem